


Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Stone Mask

by cliniclyInsane189



Series: Ripple Effect [2]
Category: Indiana Jones Series, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Crossover, Gen, Hamon (JoJo), Light Angst, Major Original Character(s), Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Nazis, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampires, wow vampires in a battle tendency era jojo fic what a surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cliniclyInsane189/pseuds/cliniclyInsane189
Summary: Some things should never fall into the wrong hands. The item Indiana Jones is to retrieve is one of them, and not all is as it seems with his travelling companions.-Set in 1942, after Battle Tendency and the first three Indiana Jones Films
Relationships: Joseph Joestar & Original Character(s)
Series: Ripple Effect [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579009
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the crossover that absolutely no-one asked for! The idea came to me in December 2019, and now it's finally finished! I'll be posting a chapter every few days until they're all up, starting with a prologue and finishing with an epilogue. Tags and warnings will be updated as we go.  
> In the main cast, there are two actual OCs and one 'OC', who is technically a canon character, but never actually appears in canon.  
> With that said, I hope you enjoy this! I know I had fun writing it!  
> -  
> Note: for the JoJo fans reading this, you're good, and I hope you appreciate my wack sense of humour. For the IJ fans, you don't really need to know JoJo for this because it's almost entirely written from the POV of Indiana or the OCs.

**_February 1942_ **

_“…and you’re sure you’re not mistaken? That that’s exactly how the item was described?”_

“Definitely. I triple checked. You think it’s…?”

_“Sadly, I doubt it could be anything other than that. Keep a close eye on things, won’t you?”_

“Of course. I know how important this is. I’ll make sure to give more regular updates.”

_“Excellent, thank you. Oh, and do take care, I don’t know what I’d do if we were to lose anyone else to this awful business.”_

“Of course, I’ll be careful. Good luck.”


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some exposition is given, an OC is introduced, and a trip that starts 'well' begins to go rapidly downhill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the first proper chapter! Each proper chapter covers one 'arc' of the story, so here's the first.  
> Extra Warnings: Vague references to past character deaths, outsider depiction of a character having a flashback (right near the end).  
> Note - the main bad guys in this fic are, unsurprisingly, nazis.

**_March 1942_ **

Doctor Henry Jones Junior, Indiana to his friends, had three jobs, technically.

There were the obvious ones; the first being his job as a Professor of Archaeology at Barnett College, NYC. The second was closely linked to the first, and that was being an actual archaeologist and retrieving artefacts for museums.

The first was the one that took up the most of his time, not that he minded all that much.

One of his favourite classes to teach was Archaeology 101, and not just because it gave him a chance to give many of the students their first taste of the subject. No, there were always a few students that caught his interest, whether because of their potential, enthusiasm, or eccentricities.

At this point in the year, twenty students remained in the class, half of whom were seriously considering the field as an area of future study. There was a fairly even spread of male and female students (for a change), all from varying backgrounds.

And the two that caught his interest this year had all three notable ‘qualities’ in spades.

One was a twenty-year-old African American lad majoring in politics, the other an eighteen-year-old Italian girl who was intending on majoring in archaeology.

They’d been noticeable right from the start, clearly familiar with each other already, but also both surprised to see the other. The former, Smokey, had been sat quietly in the front row, minding his own business, when the latter, Luna, entered. She saw him, stopped dead, and let out a delighted squeak. He saw her and just sighed as she vaulted over the desk to tackle him in a hug.

Neither had deigned to elaborate on the nature of their relationship, nor explain both how they knew each other _and_ how they hadn’t known they were attending the same college, let alone the same classes.

Indiana always tried to get to know all his students, the better to support and encourage their work and curiosity.

As such, he knew Smokey had moved to New York several years before, from somewhere in the south (he did not elaborate), but only recently had the chance to start at college. He intended to make a career out of politics, and had a part time job with a charitable organisation. He was very protective of his friends, having thrown a blackboard eraser at someone else in the class for making an extremely inappropriate comment towards Luna. The other boy had ended up with a black eye that had lasted the rest of the week.

He also knew that Luna had moved to New York specifically to attend college and had enrolled at Barnett on the recommendation of a mutual friend of her and Smokey, the same friend they’d met through. She had four siblings, one of whom, the eldest brother, had died a few years before. She didn’t talk about that one, only mentioning him in passing – it must have still been a sore topic. Remaining were two older brothers and a twin sister. Without knowing her surname or being told, you would never know she’d only been speaking English for four years, her accent almost that of a native speaker. She, too, was highly protective, having knocked another student out by hitting him in the head with a textbook for throwing slurs at Smokey.

Clearly, their friendship was meant to be.

And it was Luna’s passion towards the class that lead to both students being present when his third job came calling.

Luna herself had taken over the blackboard – it looked like she was sketching out some thoughts on a supplementary paper Indiana had assigned the class the previous lecture. She had managed to _almost_ entirely cover herself in chalk dust amid her enthusiastic writing and hand waving as she chattered on about something to Smokey in Italian.

Smokey himself was sat on a desk near the window, glancing out at the increasingly overcast sky every so often while watching his friend with a resigned but amused expression.

That had been going on for several minutes when there was a sharp rap at the door, which then proceeded to be opened without a pause for a response.

And in strode Colonel Robert Ross, shadowed by a single one of his soldiers.

Both students jumped violently, Luna dropping the chalk and Smokey knocking a small pile of papers to the floor.

“Colonel Ross,” Indiana said, standing up from where he was seated near the door. “What brings you here?”

Ross let his gaze drag across the room.

“We require your particular area of expertise, Doctor,” the Colonel said, carefully non-specific. “It’s rather urgent.”

“I’m sure,” Indiana drawled. “But perhaps this isn’t the best place for it.”

He gestured to the pair of startled students.

Luna froze again, in the process of setting the chalk on the lectern; and Smokey, who had been in the process of standing up, ducked back down.

“Perhaps,” Ross agreed, eyeing the blackboard. He took a step forward. “Did you do this?” He asked, turning his stare on Luna.

“Yes?” Luna replied, wide-eyed, clutching her bag to her chest. “It’s mostly just a, uh, a rudimentary analysis of a paper Doctor Jones gave us to look at the other day.”

Behind her, Smokey’s bag slid off the desk it was sat on. A few seconds later, the young man stood up, looking flustered.

“Hm,” Ross said. “Interesting.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, yes, that could be helpful.”

He turned away from Luna, back to Indiana.

“Shall we take this to your office, Doctor Jones?” He suggested. “The girl should come too.”

Indiana frowned.

He didn’t like the implications, nor did he appreciate the way his students were so clearly intimidated by the man. But… Ross could so easily make it an order, so better go along with him, the better to keep some control of the situation.

“Right this way, Colonel,” he said, gesturing for the man to follow him out of the door.

Smokey followed the group out of the door, but split off immediately, with a quiet mutter of “I’ll wait in the library for you,” to Luna before he hurried off.

Luna’s response was an absentminded nod; a distant and thoughtful expression settling onto her face as she fell into step next to Indiana.

* * *

  
By the time they got to his office, Indiana was beginning to regret going along with Ross’ request, if only because of the way poor Luna looked like she was about to vibrate right out of her skin. She still had her bag hugged tight to her chest, as if to form a physical barrier between herself and the rest of the room’s occupants. She was clearly intimidated, but her eyes held a thread of steel resolve, like she was expecting something. _Anticipating_ something.

After a few too long seconds, she took the last remaining seat, leaving the ‘escort’ standing by the door.

“So, Colonel,” Indiana said. “What’s this job you want me for?”

“There’s an artefact we need you to find and recover for us. Intelligence suggests it’s located somewhere in the northern half of South America. We know that, whatever it is, it’s certainly powerful.” He paused, steepled his hands beneath his chin. “It is _imperative_ it is found as quickly as possible – we know the Axis have been aware of it for longer than we have, which means they may have an advantage. Additionally, at this point, we suspect they have more information than we do, given their eagerness to get their hands on it.”

Luna leaned back in her seat, grip on her bag becoming white-knuckled.

Indiana gave her a curious look, then turned back to Ross with a nod.

“I understand. If it’s anything like the previous times, it’s not something we want them to have. But…” He trailed off. “Why did you want Luna to be here?”

Ross sighed.

“The work she was doing on the board… Young lady, you said it’s related to a paper Doctor Jones gave your class recently?”

Luna nodded rapidly, flipping open her bag and pulling out a stapled collection of paper.

“Here, this one,” she said, holding it out for him.

He took in the front page, nodded, and set it down on the desk.

“As I thought,” he said. “This paper is somehow the key to the artefact – it could tell us where it’s from, how it works, what it does. Unfortunately, a lot of contextual information has been lost to time, so no-one has been able to get anywhere with it. This young lady has shown greater understanding of it in a handful of days than anyone else we’ve spoken to – even experts in the field.” He turned to Luna. “I don’t care how or why; that’s something we don’t have time for. I have one request for you – I want you to assist our intelligence operatives with this paper for this mission. We can bring you in as a consultant – you wouldn’t even have to leave the city.”

“I’d be happy to help, sir,” Luna said, taking the paper back from the desk and shoving it carefully back into her bag.

“Excellent, excellent, Miss, ah…”

“Zeppeli, sir. Luna Zeppeli.”

“Thank you, Miss Zeppeli.”

Luna nodded, biting her lip.

“I know you said I wouldn’t have to leave New York,” she said. “But I really feel like I’d be more useful if I was actually there in person…”

“No way,” Indiana said, quickly cutting off whatever Ross had been about to say. “I’d prefer you weren’t getting dragged into this at all. I do not want to take a _kid_ with me on something like this.”

“Doctor Jones-!” Luna tried to protest.

“I said no, Luna! I don’t care how much more useful you’d be, I’m not willing to let you get put in that sort of danger.”

Luna made a noise that sounded almost like a hiss, sitting bolt upright.

“Put me in danger? I’m in danger wherever I go! Here, I’m in danger because I’m Italian, I’m ‘the enemy’. I go home, I’m in danger because I was in America, so I’m a traitor or a spy. Everywhere, I’m in danger because I’m a woman and I’m small and I look like an easy target!” She drew in a sharp breath, something dark and out of place surging behind her eyes. Her tone was forceful, but shockingly level. “At least this way I’d be helping people!”

“I’m sorry, Miss Zeppeli,” said Ross, evidently trying to be tactful. “But Doctor Jones has experience in these matters, and if he says it’s too dangerous then I trust his judgement. He’s an expert, he can handle things in the field. And you seem to be quite the expert yourself, at least in this area. We need someone like you on this end too.”

Luna slumped back down in her chair, mouth curling down and pointedly avoiding eye contact with either man.

“I understand,” she said, voice suddenly quiet and rigid. “Is there anything else you would ask of me?”

“No, that’s all we need you for,” Ross said. “I’ve extended you both the offer and you’ve both accepted.” He paused, giving Indiana a look.

“Yes, we’ve both accepted.”

“Now, there will be a formal briefing at 10:00 tomorrow morning. I will send someone to collect you from this location at 09:30. Do try to be punctual.” He stood up, straightened his uniform. “That’s everything. Good day, Doctor Jones, Miss Zeppeli.”

Indiana nodded and stepped around his desk to shake Ross’ hand.

Luna remained seated, staring at the opposite wall with her hand to her chin and lips pursed until both soldiers had left. After a moment, her eyebrow twitched and her mouth flattened into something that was trying not to be a smile.

She stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder.

“I should get going, Doctor Jones,” she said. “Don’t want to keep Smokey waiting.”

“Of course,” Indiana agreed, taking in the calculating gleam in her eyes with a sneaking suspicion he should be worried.

“See you tomorrow then, sir,” she said, uncharacteristically sharp smile flashing across her face, then hurried out of the office, letting the door slam shut behind her and leaving Indiana with the distinct sense he was missing something.

* * *

  
Luna’s arrival in the library was announced in the typical fashion – the rapid clicking of shoes on the polished floor, the ignored shushing from the librarian, and that quiet but piercing squeak as she slid to a rapid stop next to his table. There were two thuds in quick succession – one her bag dropping to the floor, the other her collapsing into a free chair.

“How’d it go?” Smokey whispered – _whispered_ because he, unlike _some people_ , actually had manners, and this _was_ a library.

Luna groaned and dropped her head to the table with a thunk and a muttered curse of such a nature that had Smokey instinctively wincing and checking to make sure the librarian hadn’t heard.

“Not great, then?” He said, once he’d verified that they were in the clear.

“Not great,” Luna parroted, lifting her head with a sigh. “I guess it could’ve gone worse – I got an in, at least.”

Smokey glanced around and raised an eyebrow in query.

Luna grimaced and nodded.

“Unfortunately, Jones blocked me out from accompanying them. Said he didn’t want to drag me into this, didn’t want to put a _kid_ in danger.” Her face twisted momentarily into a scowl. “I’m fucking eighteen, that’s…” She broke off, winced. “ _Cazzo_ , it’s not like _he’s_ the one dragging me into this mess, he has no idea…”

“Yeah, he has no idea,” Smokey said. “And it’s not like we can tell him anything. Can we?”

“No, no we can’t. That wouldn’t be good.” Luna said, sighing again.

“So, what now?” Smokey asked, after both had sat and stared at the table for much too long.

Luna made a thoughtful noise and made eye contact.

Her lips twitched down.

“We could-,” Luna started.

“But should we?” He asked.

Luna sighed yet again.

“Maybe we _shouldn’t_ ,” she mused. “But we don’t have much of an option, here. Even if-.” She broke off, tapped the table thoughtfully. “I just don’t want to…”

Smokey sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I guess. We don’t exactly…”

“That’s it, then.” Luna said, resigned. “Should we go… Now…?”

“I mean, the sooner the better, right? I don’t have any more lectures today.”

“Now it is then,” she muttered, pushing stray hair out of her face. “Hopefully, he’ll figure out why we’re there without us actually having to say anything.”

Smokey shrugged, returning the essay he’d been skimming before his friend had arrived to his bag.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s get going, then.”

* * *

  
It was a nice day, bright and a little chilly, so they forwent public transport in favour of a brisk walk. Luna had protested a little, still unused to the lower temperatures and definitely not a fan of them. This _did_ help prevent too much worried dawdling, though – something Luna in particular had a tendency towards.

Once they arrived, Luna was the one to rap sharply on the door, not giving herself room to hesitate. In brief time between knock and answer, she let out a noise that was half resigned sigh and half reluctant whine, stuffing her gloved hands under her arms.

Smokey gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

The door swung open, letting out a too short burst of warm air.

“I take it,” Joseph said, taking in the pair’s generally dejected and guilty demeanours, “that this isn’t a social call?”

At Luna’s baleful stare, he sighed and ushered them indoors, shutting and locking the door behind them.

“Suzie not in?” Smokey asked, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere as they removed shoes and coats.

“Nah, she’s out with friends. Won’t be back for a while.” He gave them both a piercing stare. “You guys want coffee? This seems like it won’t be a quick chat.”

Luna winced and nodded.

“Proper coffee,” she said, almost like a warning.

“Coffee sounds nice,” Smokey said. “And _really_ , I’m just here for moral support. Absolutely not getting any more involved.”

That intense gaze shifted to him for a few seconds, then to Luna, who was fidgeting with her bag.

Joseph sighed.

“Alright. Go sit down in the living room, I’ll be with you in a minute.”

A few minutes of waiting and awkward silence later, the trio were sat around the coffee table, steaming mugs set in front of them.

Luna was finally the one to break the silence.

“Okay,” she said, hands tightening on the paper she was holding. “Sorry.”

She set the paper down on the table between the mugs and gently nudged it across to Joseph, who took one look at it and dropped his head into his hands.

“Shit,” he said, voice slightly muffled.

“Yeah,” said Luna. “It’s… Not good. Military came to recruit our archaeology professor to go find an ‘artefact’.”

“Any details?” Joseph asked, raising his head, pushing the paper back and picking up his drink.

“Mm,” Luna said. “It’s supposed to be somewhere in South America – there’s supposed to be a proper briefing tomorrow morning. I had some analysis of that paper scribbled on the board when they arrived, and that’s why they pulled me for it as well. Research here only, they said.” She sighed. “But…”

“Yeah, letting them go off completely unprepared is a horrible idea,” Joseph agreed. “They’re not making you go?”

“Our professor, Doctor Jones, he said he wouldn’t take me. And honestly, as much as I’d like to go, any solution where they’re not running off like- like-.”

“Sacrifices?” Smokey suggested.

“That’s in very bad taste, but it’s also true,” Joseph said, while Luna nodded.

“So, what do you think?” She asked, taking a sip of coffee. “What do we do now?”

“Hm,” Joseph said, leaning back and folding his arms, an exaggerated thoughtful expression spreading across his face.  
Smokey bit back a groan.

“Well,” Joseph said, dragging the vowel out obnoxiously, “I like to think I’m pretty good at coming up with plans.”

“So, you have a plan?” Smokey prompted.

“I do! Smokey, you’ll be staying right here in New York, so no need to worry about that. Luna…” He trailed off, expression tightening for a brief moment. “You sure you want to go?”

“Yeah,” Luna replied, leaning forward, elbows on knees.

“Well, I have a solution that should help with that. We need to go and see your ‘Doctor Jones’.”

“Now?” Luna asked.

“As soon as you’re ready.” A pause. “Actually, Smokey, could you do us a favour?”

* * *

  
Smokey’s task was simple enough – head over to the Speedwagon Foundation’s New York office, find Mr Speedwagon, fill him in, request the Foundation’s assistance and any intelligence they already had.

And, thankfully, he was in a fairly unique position that meant he could walk straight up to the Director’s secretary and ask to see the man, and for that request to be almost immediately granted.

“Ah, hello Smokey,” Mr Speedwagon said, as Smokey pushed the door open. “Something I can help you with?”

“Yes, Mr Speedwagon. JoJo asked me to come – there’s something we need your help with.”

Once he was filled in, Mr Speedwagon leaned back in his chair with a frown.

“That is concerning,” he said. “Yes… Well, I’ll see what I can get together. Make sure that JoJo, at least, comes to see me before leaving New York so we can go over a proper plan.”

“Sure thing,” Smokey replied. “And, while I’m here, is there anything I can do to help?”

* * *

  
At around the same time Smokey arrived at the SPW building, there was a knock on the door of Indiana’s office.

It was getting late, and he hadn’t been expecting anyone so, at first, he thought he was hearing things.

Then there was a second knock.

“Come in!” He called, setting down his pen and readjusting his glasses.

The door opened a crack and a too familiar head poked in.

“Luna,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too wary. “What can I do for you?”

She gave an awkward laugh, a sheepish grin slipping onto her face.

Indiana felt a distinct sense of foreboding creeping up on him.

“We’ve got a proposal for you,” she said, smile disappearing in favour of a determined line as she pushed the door fully open.

The motion revealed her companion – a very tall young man, dressed casually, with windswept hair and an easy grin.

He gestured for them to fully enter the room, and they did so, the man shutting the door quietly behind them. He stopped there, leaning casually against the wall by the door, but Luna crossed the rest of the room to his desk in a handful of brisk steps.

She dropped that paper down on the desk in front of him, dropped her bag to the ground and folded her arms.

“This,” she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder, “is Joseph Joestar. His grandfather is the man who wrote that paper. You probably want to hear what he has to say about this.”

Indiana blinked, gaze drifting to the young man still leaning against the wall. His grin hadn’t wavered at all, his mannerisms still as relaxed as could be, but for a moment that smile had just a touch too many teeth in it for it to be warm.

“I suppose I do,” Indiana said, carefully. “Why don’t you both sit down?”

They did, Joestar to Luna’s left and a little further away from the desk.

“So, Luna,” Indiana said. “I take it you’ve known Mr Joestar here for some time?”

“Joseph, please,” the man himself said, leaning forward to prop an elbow on Indiana’s desk, smile broadening for a second before slipping away entirely in favour of a still genial but more relaxed expression. “Mr Joestar makes me feel like an old man.”

Indiana tipped his head to the side in acknowledgement, then turned to Luna.

“We’ve known each other for four years,” she answered. “He is a close friend of my family.” She paused. “Joseph, perhaps you can explain the significance of this?”

Joestar nodded.

“This was his thesis. It was initially well received, but it was meant to be revised after he found new data. That’s the only version that exists, however, because mid-way through the process…” He sighed, tapping his fingers to his chin. “There were some major disruptions that lead to all his notes being destroyed, the artefact described within disappearing and, most unfortunately, his death. What little was left was kept by my grandmother.” He leaned back in his chair, almost radiating boredom. “I actually have a question for you, Doctor Jones. Why do you put such stock in a piece of research that has since become so widely discredited?”

Interesting. It seemed the young man was sharper than his attitude suggested. It was clever of him to use such an act to make people underestimate him – Indiana probably wouldn’t even have noticed if he weren’t already familiar with the tactic.

“I’ve seen far too many unusual things to disregard even something like that,” Indiana said, picking his words carefully. “Perhaps _especially_ something like that.”

Joestar smiled again.

“So,” Indiana said, leaning forward himself. “Why are you here, then, Joestar?”

Joestar shrugged.

“Well, you already know Luna wants to go with you. Personally, as much as I dislike the idea of her getting into something you clearly think is dangerous, I _do_ think she’d be more help than you think. She’s hardly fragile, and I highly doubt you’ll be able to make much use of her knowledge when you’re out of touch with the rest of the world – and that would certainly be when you need it the most.”

Indiana had to concede that he had a good point; but he didn’t have to do it out loud. So, he didn’t, instead remaining silent.

“And, well, I am curious. It sounds like this expedition of yours has potential to restore my grandfather’s good academic name, so to speak. So, I’d like to accompany you.” He smiled. “But of course, I don’t think I’d be able to go if Luna has to stay behind.”

Indiana hesitated just a second too long, and Joestar’s smile widened.

“C’mon,” he said, leaning back forward. “Where else are you gonna get this kind of insight? I know you’re interested in Jonathan’s work, and I know you’d _love_ to find out more about the man himself. When are you going to get an opportunity like this again?”

Indiana sighed.

Joestar had him and they both knew it.

“You’re clearly not much older than Luna,” Indiana said, a useless attempt to make it seem like the conversation wasn’t already over. “How old _are_ you?”

“Twenty-two,” the young man replied, cheery expression and relaxed posture reappearing as if they’d never been gone.

Indiana sighed again.

“Fine,” he said. “ _Fine_. You can accompany us to the briefing tomorrow and make your case to the military. I’ll back you up, _but I can’t guarantee anything_.”

That grin broadened.

“Thank you, Doctor Jones,” Joestar said, standing and offering a hand to shake.

“Of course,” Indiana said, accepting it. “I’ll see you both tomorrow, then. Right Luna?”

Luna, who was refastening her bag, nodded.

“Yes, Doctor Jones. Thank you again for your time.” She swung her bag onto her back. Then, “come on JoJo, you owe me dinner.”

And she grabbed him by the arm and towed him out of Indiana’s office with a sunny grin and a cheerful wave over her shoulder.

Indiana stared after them, at the dark wood of his office door, and wondered if he’d just made a terrible mistake.

* * *

  
The next day, Indiana had an 8am class to teach, which he did with no small measure of reluctance. He’d spoken to the head of department about cancelling the rest of the day’s classes the previous afternoon, and had been half tempted to cancel that one as well, but they were in their final year and he didn’t want them to miss more classes than they had to. He hadn’t spoken to the Dean about the upcoming excursion, but the man wouldn’t mind too much. And if he did, well. It wasn’t really like either of them had much of a say in the matter.

After the class, he was back in his office by nine, and was just finishing up on the phone to Ross – letting him know about the extra attendee to their meeting – when there was a knock on the door.

It was Luna and Joestar, of course. All his students knew he wasn’t having office hours that day, and the rest of the staff knew he wasn’t here for the rest of the day.

Both were dressed a lot more formally than the previous day – Luna in a smart rose dress and polished boots, her hair in a neat up-do; Joestar in a grey suit with a blue shirt and patterned tie. Both wore overcoats of similar style, both tan; but Luna’s darker than Joestar’s. Both also wore gloves, though while Luna took hers off upon entering, Joestar’s remained firmly on.

Luna gave him a wide grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“ _Buongiorno!_ ” She chirped; tone almost believably cheery.

“Morning,” Indiana said. “Glad you’re early, these military types don’t like to be kept waiting.”

Joestar let out a huffed laugh, but didn’t say anything.

What followed was twenty minutes of increasingly awkward silence that Indiana tried to ignore, made Luna visibly uncomfortable, and didn’t seem to bother Joestar at all.

So, when their escort arrived and broke the silence, it was almost a relief.

The car ride wasn’t quite as awkward as the preceding wait, but it came _pretty damn_ close.

In the end, they arrived five minutes before the meeting was due to start – although judging by the number of chairs, everyone else but Ross himself had beaten them to it.

Ross arrived practically the second the minute hand touched twelve, almost as if he’d been waiting outside the door. He strode into the room and took his place at the head of the table without so much as a pause; eyes flickering across the room as he entered. The way his eyebrow twitched upon seeing Joestar was odd, but was probably just in reaction to his stature – Indiana himself had certainly done a bit of a double take at their first encounter.

“I see everyone’s here,” Ross said. “Good, then we can begin.” He paused, looked around at them all. “A few weeks ago, our intelligence operatives received word that the Axis were searching for a very powerful artefact somewhere in South America. Given the resources being expended on it, we’re operating on the assumption that, whatever it is, it’s legitimate – and therefore it is of vital importance that we get to it before they do. We’ve narrowed down the location to ‘somewhere in Brazil’, which isn’t perfect, but does give us a good place to start.” He paused again.

Indiana raised his hand, rocking back in his chair.

Ross sighed.

“Yes, Doctor Jones?”

“Remember how I said yesterday that I didn’t want Luna to come?”

“I recall,” Ross said, dryly. “I take it you’ve… Reconsidered.”

“Yeah,” Indiana said, not bothering to elaborate.

“Then I suppose it wouldn’t be _too_ much trouble for you to introduce your associate, given he’s clearly the reason for your sudden change of heart.”

Indiana rocked back forward in his chair.

“Joseph Joestar,” he said, as the man in question leaned forward with a broad and disarming smile. “He’s offered his assistance, and, given his unique perspective on the matter, I feel it’s a good idea to take him up on it.”

Ross nodded slowly.

“Hmm,” he said. “Then that would make the author of that paper we’ve been using a relative of yours, yes?”

“That’s right,” Joseph said, smile not slipping. “My grandfather. I feel… There’s a certain sense of _obligation_ to see this through. It wouldn’t be right for me to ignore this situation when there’s something I can do.”

“I see…” Ross said. “Yes, I think I understand. But why the insistence on Miss Zeppeli’s presence?”

“Less of an insistence and more of an agreement. A compromise,” Joestar said, leaning back and lacing his hands together. “Speaking personally, I’d agree with Doctor Jones’ initial opinion. Professionally… I’d say she’s a good fit – competent and driven. And since I’d be with her the whole time, I can set aside my personal issues.”

Joestar’s grin had flagged slightly.

“Anyway,” he continued. “If it’s accountability you’re worried about, then you can be assured that she’ll be entirely my problem, irregardless of what happens.”

Ross nodded again, clearly seeing some meaning in Joestar’s words that Indiana didn’t.

Given the way Luna shifted uneasily in her seat and leaned towards Joestar, she’d seen something too – something she didn’t like.

“Very well,” Ross said, eventually. “I’ll allow it.”

From there, the meeting continued with the usual procedural monotony, mostly a more formal rehashing of the previous day. It wasn’t until the very end that the initial strategy was laid out.

“Now, there is little else that can be done here. So, a team consisting of the three of you and Sergeants Abraham and Seabrooke,” here he gestured to the two soldiers at the table with them, “will be departing for Recife in three days’ time. You have until then to explain your upcoming absences. Jones, Zeppeli, I shall talk to the College on your behalf. Joestar…”

“Thanks,” Joestar said, “but I won’t have any trouble handling it myself.”

“Excellent,” Ross said. “You’re all dismissed. Report back here at 05:00 in three days.”

* * *

  
The next two days passed quickly; the preparations for the trip _on top of_ his usual schedule keeping him much busier than usual.

He packed two bags – one suitcase and one backpack, including clothes suitable for both the city and the rainforest, as well as his favourite hat, pistol, and customary whip.

While he didn’t have any classes with Luna in those two days, he did see her around campus – usually in or around the library with Smokey. When she saw him, she’d wave, as most of his students did, and altogether acted like nothing out of the ordinary was going on at all.

He didn’t see Joestar until half-past-four on the morning they were due to depart.

Indiana had deliberately arrived around half-an-hour early, yet he had only been there for a handful of minutes when Joestar and Luna arrived. They were dropped off by a dark car – notably not a taxi, driven by a man wearing what looked like a uniform, though Indiana didn’t recognise it.

It was a chilly, foggy morning, and all three were dressed appropriately for the weather – Luna was even wearing trousers rather than a skirt, a rarity for her.

“You’re early,” he remarked, as they approached.

“So are you,” Joestar replied, waving to the driver as the car pulled away.

“Nice, great, can we go inside _please_?” Luna said, huffing out a cloudy breath. “It’s _freezing_ out here.”

“I dunno, I kinda like it…” Joestar said, faux thoughtfully.

Luna kicked him in the knee and stalked over to the door, leaving her friend to deal with their suitcase and both backpacks.

* * *

  
The plane was scheduled to depart at 06:30 and, in a stroke of luck, that was exactly when it did.

It was a small plane, but still too big for just the five of them.

So, of course, they’d spread out, taking advantage of the space available to them.

Indiana had picked a window seat near the middle, by the wings. The two soldiers, who seemed to be friends, had also taken window seats – near the back, one in front of the other. Luna and Joestar were up near the front on opposite sides of the aisle to each other. Luna was curled up on her side, head resting against the window, attempting to sleep. Joestar had his head against the window too but, judging from his posture, he wasn’t sleeping – just staring out of the window into the clouds.

About an hour in, they hit some mild turbulence. It wasn’t much, but it jolted Luna awake and, thanks to some unfortunate timing on his part, caused Joestar to loudly bang his head on the window.

He muttered a string of curses under his breath and flipped Luna off when she laughed at him. Once the plane’s movement had calmed, he stood up, hunched so as to not hit his head on the ceiling, and made his way down the plane, eventually slumping down across the aisle from Indiana.

“Hi,” he said. “Nice trip we’re having.” He looked oddly distant, like his attention wasn’t entirely focused here.

“If you say so,” Indiana replied. “Did you want something?”

“No,” Joestar said. “But you do. Go on, ask away, Doctor Jones.”

Indiana looked down at the file lying oh so innocuously in the seat beside him.

“Why do you care so much about this? You’re not an archaeologist, and no amount of investment in the legacy of a dead relative would be enough for someone to willingly involve themselves in something like this.”

Joestar’s expression, just for a split second, went cold.

“Well,” he said, expression back to its usual friendliness, “that’s not _quite_ the whole story. I won’t say it’s not about legacy, because it _is_ , just not in the way you’re thinking.” He pulled a face, and suddenly looked much more like his age. He leaned over and flipped open the paper and let it land on a heavily redacted page – the page which, presumably, had all the details of the artefact much of the research had stemmed from. “This thing,” Joestar said, tapping on a mostly redacted sketch, “got him killed. It got a lot of people killed, but most importantly, him. I don’t know how, don’t know if it was the thing itself or events surrounding it, but I want answers. And if what we’re looking for out there is anything like this, then maybe I’ll get them. And…”

“And it’s dangerous and you don’t want anyone else to die,” Indiana finished. He could understand that motivation. “Alright. What _do_ you know about this item?”

Joestar shrugged. “It was an heirloom, apparently. His mother bought it shortly before she died, so despite his father not liking it, he kept it as a sort of memorial. According to my grandmother, the reason he decided to study it was as a way to feel closer to her.”

“That’s awfully sentimental,” Indiana said. “And you said the thing went missing?”

“Yeah,” Joestar said. “But I very much doubt it ended up in Brazil. This is probably just a different model.” He gave a quiet laugh. “By which I mean, the same type, but not the same one.”

“A duplicate?”

“Ah, who knows. Certainly not me.” He leaned back to peer out of the window and, like Indiana, pointedly ignored the way the two soldiers were blatantly eavesdropping. “Anything else?”

“Not about this, right now, but… Something’s bothering you.”

“What, me? Bothered? Nah,” Joestar said, clearly lying.

Indiana gave him a blank stare.

“Ugh, fine, I guess I just don’t like flying like this. Small plane and all.”

“What, claustrophobic?”

“Ha, I wish. No, last time I was in a plane this size it crashed. Badly.” He swallowed harshly. “Very badly. I’d prefer not to talk about it.”

“Fair enough,” Indiana said. It made sense. Plane crashes weren’t terribly uncommon. “I guess you weren’t expecting to react like this?”

“No,” Joestar said. “No, I wasn’t. God, fucking…” He trailed off, muttered something that was probably very rude under his breath, and stood up. “I’m gonna head back up that way,” he said. “If you have any other questions, I’m sure you can hold onto them until we arrive.”

* * *

  
The rest of the flight was uneventful – no more turbulence and very little interaction between passengers. Luna went back to sleep, and then Indiana dozed off as well.

The drive to the hotel went similarly – it wasn’t far, so it didn’t take too long. They checked in, took their stuff to their rooms – one each, all together on the second floor – and changed into clothes more appropriate for the temperature.

Then they headed out to a library.

The goal of the first day was gathering background information, something all five of them were capable of doing. So, they all spent the rest of the day (with breaks for meals) reading about: the history of the country; the geography; the culture, both past and present; and, at Joestar’s insistence, anything they could find about historical relations with Central America.

When asked why, he had refused to elaborate and then dragged them out for lunch.

That went smoothly, and they were largely undisturbed, other than by one of the librarians walking past and glaring at them at roughly hourly intervals. (The other one would shoot them an apologetic look whenever she saw them, which was… Nice?

* * *

  
On the second day, Joestar took a reluctant Sergeant Abraham and headed out to explore the city. The goal was to locate more sources of information (other libraries, museums, old book shops, etc.)

That left the other three doing very much the same thing they had the day before. By about mid-afternoon, they’d started to move on to more in-depth and specialised texts, which left Sergeant Seabrooke with the rather dreary task of comparing their maps of Central and South America with the maps the library had to offer, and noting and adding anything missing from their own.

* * *

  
The third day was much the same as the second.

Seabrooke and Luna remained at the original library, while Indiana and Abraham went to the other one, that they’d found the previous day. Joestar spent the morning with the latter group, the afternoon with the former, and a good portion of the middle of the day wandering the city alone. Clearly, the man wasn’t one for remaining in one place for long, especially given his apparent inability to sit still even when he did stay put.

* * *

  
On the fourth day, in the morning, they received a phone call from HQ – Nazi soldiers had been sighted entering the city.

This was a fact that made everyone uneasy, though for different reasons. The Sergeants had both muttered complaints about the possibility of getting into a firefight in a city. Indiana was of a similar opinion, adding on a healthy wariness from prior encounters with them on similar missions. He assumed that Luna and Joestar were just afraid of being caught or killed, or of ending up in the middle of a violent situation they couldn’t help with. He wouldn’t ask, though. If they didn’t want it bringing up, then he wouldn’t. (In reality, this was only partly true – Luna was worried about conflict, but mostly because she’d never had to confront anyone who had a gun before; Joseph was mainly bothered by the memories of the last time he’d had to deal with Nazis in a similar context.)

The unease meant that everyone was behaving twitchier than usual – the soldiers a little quicker to look up at a sudden noise, Indiana less focussed on his work, Luna’s movements becoming jumpier, Joestar going the opposite becoming stiller and quieter.

* * *

  
The collective jumpiness receded somewhat by the following day, but the change in behaviour did not – not entirely.

First thing in the morning, Joestar made a phone-call to someone in New York, a relative, he said. As well as this, he and Luna had both switched up their attire. Both went from light trousers, shirts, and dress shoes; the latter to cargo pants, a canvas short-sleeved shirt and boots, the former to a tank-top, jeans and similar boots. Oddly enough, despite the temperature and the dissonance they caused with the rest of his clothes, Joestar still wore his gloves, along with some sort of armbands.

Later on in the day, caution levels went up again with the receipt of a phone-call, this one from HQ.

_“We’ve received intelligence of an unknown third-party’s involvement. Proceed with care.”_

Aside from that, there was nothing.

The most worrisome thing was that none of them had seen any sign of this third party – whoever they were, they were good at covering their tracks.

* * *

  
On their sixth day in Recife, they finally found something they could work with. It wasn’t much – just a short line in an old book about a map – a map that was supposed to lead to a temple that ‘contained great power’.

Abraham had scoffed at that, and Joestar had rolled his eyes, but his expression was almost a genuine smile.

But the temple was almost certainly where the artefact was to be found, and they had location to look for the map – their next destination would be Manaus.

Unfortunately, their sixth day was also when their good luck ran out.

All five of them were together, walking back to their hotel in the late evening, and something was wrong.

They all noticed, because it wasn’t subtle, but Seabrooke was the first one to actually bring it up.

“This isn’t good,” he muttered when they were about half-way back.

“No shit,” Joestar muttered back, eyeballing the car that had been slowly following them for a disconcerting amount of time. “Because anyone that follows people around in a car until there’s no-one else around _definitely_ has good intentions.”

Seabrooke pulled a face at him, but didn’t have time to make whatever snarky response he had in mind.

They’d reached an intersection; and at it were two cars – one idling in the road on the opposite side and the other parked fully across the sidewalk.

“Oh, that is _really_ not good,” Indiana said, the group forced to a stop by the block.

As they stopped, the door of the car directly in front of them opened. At the same time, the one in road pulled forward and stopped on the road beside them and the one that had been tailing them pulled up behind them in a rough mirror of the one in front.

Out of the open door of the car in front of them stepped a Nazi officer. He was followed from the other doors by regular soldiers.

The officer took a step forward, and Joestar gave Indiana a nudge in the ribs.

Indiana took a quick glance to the side, saw the narrow alley beside them and gave a quick nod, then turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

“Let’s make this quick,” the officer said, as the doors of the other cars swung open in a similar fashion to the first. “You know what we want, and you have information that can help us get it. Hand it over, and maybe we let the civilians go.”

Indiana hesitated.

Luna, however…

“Oh, get fucked,” she spat. “I think we all know you’re full of shit.”

“Language,” Joestar hissed, but couldn’t hide the pride evident in his voice.

“Is that how it is, then?” The officer asked.

“Yeah, you people can get your filthy hands on that thing _over my dead body!_ ” Luna snapped, widening her stance as if she were going to strike the man.

None of them contradicted her – in fact, Joestar and Abraham flipped them of simultaneously.

“So be it,” the officer said.

Everyone tensed.

“Kill them. Do _not_ damage the item.”

* * *

  
In the time it took for the enemy soldiers to ready their weapons, several things happened, all very quickly.

First, Joestar shoved Luna into the alley. Second, as Luna stumbled sideways, she kicked a bin at the group of soldiers behind them. Third, Joestar dived away, over the hood of the car beside them. Fourth, his move was replicated by Abraham, who, taking advantage of Luna’s distraction, scrambled over the hood of the car behind the group, which was pushed up against the wall, and elbowed a soldier in the face as he went. Fifth, Indiana and Seabrooke ducked for cover, the latter for a deep-set doorway, the former after Luna into the alley.

Then the firing started, just as Indiana made it half-way to the alley. He dove the rest of the way, a bullet narrowly missing his head. Behind the noise of continuous gunfire, there was a loud thud and a strangled yell. Indiana ignored it in favour of pulling out his own gun and checking on Luna.

She was in the process of pulling herself up onto the fire escape, a sensible attempt to get out of range of the chaos in the street. She pulled herself fully up and hopped over the rail, then glanced down.

“Do you want-?” She started, gesturing to the ladder.

Indiana shook his head and waved his hand upwards.

She nodded hastily and continued up the stairs, stopping on the third floor and watching the scene below.

At the same time, there was a total break in the gunfire, so Indiana leaned out of the alley to assess the situation.

Abraham’s head was poking over the back car – he looked ruffled, but uninjured.

Seabrooke had dragged a trash-can in front of the doorway and was crouched behind it – Indiana could barely see him. He was alive, though, but seemed to have been clipped on the arm.

Joestar wasn’t in sight, so was presumably still on the other side of the opposite car.

There were a few Nazi soldiers sprawled out on the ground, either dead or unconscious. Someone had been able to get in some good shots, then.

Two of them finished reloading, looked up, and saw Indiana.

So, he took a couple of shots at them and then ducked back, covering Seabrooke and Abraham as they scrambled over to join him in the alley.

There was another loud thud, one of the soldiers that had just fired at them collapsed to the ground and Joestar was back on their side of the car. He rolled over to join the rest of them in the alley.

A second soldier, who was stood right in the open, raised his gun.

“Wait,” Joestar said, before any of them could react. “Look where he’s pointing it.”

Wait indeed.

The soldier wasn’t aiming his weapon at them at all.

It was pointed straight at the officer that was, presumably, his CO.

He only got one shot off, but it was all he needed.

After that, and with a few yelled directions and warnings from Luna up above them, the conflict came to a swift conclusion.

The traitor was still alive and conscious, though he clearly wouldn’t be for long, and it was an odd mix of curiosity and gratitude that made Indiana follow Joestar when the younger man went to the fallen soldier’s side.

“Why?” Joestar asked, kneeling by the soldier.

The man’s head rolled to the side to look at him.

“You probably don’t remember me,” the man wheezed, a sudden clarity filling his previously glazed eyes. “We never… Really met… But… I know you.” He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. “My name… It is Jakob Haber. I remember… Switzerland. I—.” He coughed again, eyes starting to slide shut, and a shaking hand reached out and grasped Joestar firmly by the left wrist. “I cannot allow that again. Not ever. You will succeed.”

Joestar let out a very quiet sigh, his gaze dipping. He made no move to remove the man, Haber’s, hand.

“Thank you,” he said, voice barely audible. “I’ll make sure word makes it to the right people.”

Haber nodded, and his eyes slid shut for the last time, now limp hand dropping to the floor.

Joestar didn’t move as the others approached, just knelt there, hands clenched in his lap and his eyes seeing something far, far away.

* * *

  
“JoJo,” Luna said, crouching down between Joestar and the body. “Hey. You with us?”

There was a long pause, then he moved. He raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sorry about that. How long-?”

“Just a minute,” Luna said.

“A minute too long,” Seabrooke muttered, tone nowhere near as harsh as his words. “We need to get out of here – there could be more of them.”

“Got it,” Joestar said, rocking up onto his feet and pinching the bridge of his nose. “We don’t need to stay in the city any longer either, do we?”

“Right,” Indiana said. “If we hurry, we can be on a plane this evening.”

“Not from here, though,” Abraham said. “If there are more, they’ll be watching the airport. We should head for another city first.”

Following a hurried journey back to the hotel, packing, and checking out, they headed for a nearby car rental that was only just still open. After a brief argument over whether the owner was willing to let them take a car this late (which was resolved by Joestar shoving more money than necessary at him), they were on the road headed for Natal.

The whole process took just over half-an-hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note I have never actually been to Brazil, and especially not Brazil in the 1940s - all the information is from either Wikipedia or a few tourism websites. I also know nothing about archaeology or how American universities/colleges work.  
> Hope you've enjoyed everything so far! Next chapter should be up within a few days.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the crew have a plane ride, a boat trip and a long hike through the rainforest. Also, Indiana starts to become suspicious of one of his travelling companions, and Joseph tries to lighten the mood with jokes that only he and Luna (and you, the JoJo fan reading this) understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, you know where this is going. Pacing is fairly similar to last chapter but with less exposition-y stuff and more character-y stuff. Lots of terrible jokes that I think are hilarious. Actually zero violence in this one I think.  
> Also a couple of references to one of my fave hcs - Joseph having ADHD (the projection shining through lmao).

Due to the rushed preparations and the cramped nature of the car, Indiana wasn’t able to catch Joestar alone until they arrived in Natal.

They were at a gas station, waiting for Seabrooke and Luna, who were inside using the facilities, and Abraham, who’d taken the car to look for someone to fob it off on who would be able and willing to take it back to Recife.

“What the hell was that back there, Joestar?”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit. C’mon, you knew that guy! How does that work?”

“ _He_ knew _me_ ,” Joestar corrected, not looking at Indiana. “I – Just another face, y’know. Obviously, I had a more significant impact on him than he did on me.”

“But you knew what he was talking about. The event he mentioned, that meant something to you.”

“Yeah,” Joestar sighed. “Yeah, I knew. That… Well, that’s what caused him to flip – he’s been working with British Intelligence ever since then.”

Indiana frowned.

“You’re with British Intelligence, then? Oh, _that’s_ why Ross looked like that when he saw you – he recognised you.”

“Exactly.”

“But if you didn’t know his name or recognise him, how do you know he was with them?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified,” Joestar replied, a teasing lilt reappearing in his tone for the first time since the ambush. “But seriously, that incident… It was pretty bad. You don’t have clearance to know the details, but you I can tell you that every single German soldier who survived it either deserted on the spot or turned spy for the Allies.”

Honestly, that was hard to believe. But… Haber’s words had clearly had an effect on Joestar. He’d been distant and withdrawn ever since the incident, acting as if on autopilot. And Haber had quite literally gotten himself killed to, in his own words, stop a situation like that one happening again.  
So Indiana didn’t express his doubt, didn’t immediately try and dig for more information.

Instead, he asked,

“Are you okay?”

Joestar shrugged.

“Don’t know. I’ll get back to you on that one.”

“I’m not going to ask what happened in Switzerland, because I know you won’t tell me,” Indiana said. “But does Luna know?”

“She knows more than you and less than me,” Joestar replied. “But the reason she knows is nothing to do with security clearances and all that shit, and everything to do with family. And honestly, you don’t need to know any more than that. It’s not relevant and it’s personal.”

“Alright,” Indiana said, and they fell into silence. He’d got enough for now. He could always try again later.

His gaze wandered, and eventually landed on a phone booth.

“Hey,” he said, gesturing to it, “didn’t you say you wanted to make a phone-call?”

“Yeah,” Joestar said, but hesitated.

“I’ll make sure you’re not overheard,” Indiana said, and that seemed to be enough.

Joestar gave him a grin, the expression sliding onto his face as if it’d never been gone. It was disconcerting how easy it seemed – because if he could hide such intense emotions with such ease, what else was there hidden? What else about him was a lie?

* * *

  
After reconvening, they made it to the airport and, with some judicious application of bribery, onto the last flight to Manaus of the night. Even then, they were lucky there were enough seats for all of them, even if they were scattered about the plane. Abraham and Seabrooke were towards the back, opposite sides of the aisle and a few rows apart, Indiana was by himself almost right at the front, and Joestar and Luna were across the aisle from each other right in the middle.

The flight took four hours, which had them arriving at the inconvenient time of 1 am (which was, admittedly, not as bad as if they hadn’t gained an hour upon switching time zones).

They found a hotel, not as nice as the last one but decent enough, not too far from the airport. There were only two rooms available, but they were promised by the exhausted receptionist that another one would become available the following day, and that she’d make sure that it was reserved for them – they just had to make sure one of them showed up between two (checkout time) and five the following afternoon.

They split predictably: Joestar and Luna took one room, Indiana went with the Sergeants in the other.

* * *

  
In the morning they gathered at a small café just down the street from the hotel; both for breakfast and to discuss their next moves.

Their arrivals were staggered – Indiana got there first, almost as soon as they opened, and simply ordered coffee and toast.

The Sergeants arrived around twenty minutes later – both ordered porridge, Abraham with tea and Seabrooke with coffee.

Joestar and Luna were another twenty minutes after that, and both of them ordered ‘extra-strong’ coffee and a pastry.

It was almost twenty minutes again before all of them had consumed enough caffeine to be coherent enough for intelligent conversation (with Luna and Joestar somehow getting through three refills of coffee each), at which point they could get down to business.

“We’ll need to find a library, obviously,” said Abraham. “Right?”

Indiana nodded

“Museum as well,” Luna said. “Best if Doctor Jones takes the lead there, they’re more likely to listen to him, given his credentials.”

“We should ask around – talk to the locals,” Indiana suggested. He paused. “Does anyone speak Portuguese?”

“Some,” said Luna. “Enough to get by, and past that, Italian is similar enough that we can guess based on context.”

“We?” Asked Seabrooke.

Wordlessly, Luna pointed at Joestar.

“Oh,” Seabrooke said, “you speak Italian?”

Luna and Joestar gave an impressive, synchronised eye-roll.

“Not fluently,” Joestar replied, “yet. But well enough, and I’ll get there.”

“Right,” Indiana said, breaking off the incoming tangent before it could begin, “that’ll be useful. So, we have a plan. We go to libraries, museums, talk to the curators at the museums, talk to the locals.” He took a swig of his coffee. “And with the last one, we should also try and find someone familiar with the river and the forest away from the city, in case we need a guide or someone to help interpret the map when we find it.”

“Got it,” Abraham said. “We’ll be splitting up again, then?”

“Cover more ground that way,” said Indiana. “But stick with the ground-work today – Joestar and Luna can check out exhibits in the museums, I’ll see what I can do with the libraries.”

Abraham and Seabrooke immediately entered an intense staring contest, which Seabrooke lost.

“Okay,” he said, “Jones, I’ll go with you.”

“That’s everything, then?” Joestar asked.

Indiana nodded.

“Yeah. Oh, and Seabrooke, don’t let me forget to go back to the hotel for that room this afternoon.”

* * *

  
Killian Abraham had definitely gotten the better end of the deal – playing tourist with the younger members of the group was definitely preferable to being stuck in a library all day. Not to mention he actually liked visiting museums in his downtime – when he got the chance. The experience was soured a little by the events of the previous night, but Killian tried to not let it get to him. At least after _that_ he could be assured that his companions weren’t entirely incapable of looking after themselves.

They ended up wandering around for about an hour before heading in to the first museum, and after that, everything went smoothly for the rest of the day. They didn’t meet up with the other two again until around six in the evening, for dinner, by which point the room issue had been entirely sorted.

* * *

  
The next day, the groups remained the same, but switched targets. That meant Killian had to deal with being stuck in a library all day – not that he was the only one in the group that was bothered by this, of course. Then again, it wasn’t like what Jones and Seabrooke were doing was all that exciting either – Jones would be talking to the curators to get a look at things not so accessible to the public, Seabrooke would be posing as his assistant to make sure he could accompany him.

So, really, Killian couldn’t complain.

Well, not until Joestar went and wandered off in the middle of the afternoon. One minute he was there, then the next time Killian looked up he was gone.

Killian wasn’t sure how long he was gone for, but it was at least twenty minutes after he noticed Joestar’s absence that the young man returned. He was bearing an impressive stack of books and a sheepish expression.

Killian shook his head and sighed.

Honestly, kid had lasted longer than he’d expected – he was obviously the fidgety sort at the best of times.

* * *

  
On day three, Rudy Seabrooke gained the dubious honour of accompanying Joestar and Zeppeli on their escapades. It was, to their credit, significantly less boring than the previous two days, and they were surprisingly productive, for civilians.

The morning was spent in a library, apparently continuing the efforts of the young pair from the day before. This continued on until lunch, after which they took to the streets – really leaning into the clueless foreigner act. Their approach varied slightly from location to location; sometimes they were tourists, eager to hear stories about local folk stories, myths, legends. Other times they played the part of journalists – Zeppeli the earnest young photographer with camera round her neck, Joestar the up-and-coming writer with a rapidly filling notebook and a winning smile.

At this point, all Rudy had to do was play bodyguard and occasionally help with any shots Zeppeli was too short for.

* * *

  
Unfortunately, in that same afternoon, Indiana and Abraham caught sight of a worryingly large number of German soldiers near the airport. It seemed that their lead had disappeared.

Thankfully, they weren’t spotted, but they’d have to speed up their efforts. They’d also have to be more careful – they didn’t want a run-in like the one in Recife.

* * *

  
On the fourth day, Indiana and Abraham finally found it. The map.

It was in one of the museums, tucked away with the other boring things that tourists wouldn’t want to see. It would have been incredibly easy to overlook.

They went to speak to the curators immediately, asking if they could take it or, failing that, have a copy made as quickly as possible.

They got the latter and were told that they would be able to go and collect it that same evening.

From the brief look Indiana had got at it in the museum, it was very vague and very old – it was possible that landmarks indicated on the map may have changed or no longer exist. What they’d already got from locals would help, to be sure, but it might not be enough. Either way, there was a chance they’d have to make do – the longer they stayed in Manaus the higher the chance of something bad happening.

After leaving the museum, they went and found the others, filled them in, and headed back to the hotel to start packing for a trip into the rainforest.

* * *

  
That evening, the collection of the map went fine. Indiana went with just Joestar for company. They didn’t want to attract too much attention, after all, and the man could be surprisingly subtle, given his size and usual exuberant attitude. They got the map; the head curator got a promise from Indiana that they could initiate a professional correspondence.

It was as they were headed back to the hotel that things became… Not so fine. Not bad, necessarily, but definitely strange.

They were about a quarter of the way back to the hotel when Indiana noticed someone watching them from across the street.

He pointed this out to Joestar, who gave a discrete glance in the indicated direction and gave a hum of acknowledgement.

“He looks kind of familiar,” Joestar muttered, pace slowing. “Huh…” He stopped and turned to blatantly stare at the man.

The man, in turn, upon realising he’d been seen, glanced around quickly, beckoned to them, and disappeared inside the bar he’d been loitering outside of.

“Terrible idea,” Indiana said, turning.

“Yep,” Joestar agreed, already crossing the road to follow the man into the bar.

* * *

  
The inside of the bar was a strange combination of moderately well lit and very hazy. Their not-so-subtle observer had already sequestered himself in a booth well away from the door, a drink sat untouched on the table in front of him.

Indiana’s first instinct was to head straight over to him; but that was… Probably not the best idea. Instead, he followed Joestar over to the bar. They bought drinks, lingered for about a minute after, then headed over to join the stranger in his booth.

They both sat down opposite him.

“You’re lucky,” the man said, “that I was the only one watching you tonight.”

“Yes,” said Joestar. “But you won’t be once we leave.”

“If that wasn’t something I had already accepted, I would not have invited you to approach me,” the man said. “This is still, as it was then, a cause I am prepared to die for.”

Joestar shrugged.

“I suppose you’re right,” he said. He paused, ran a gloved finger around the rim of his glass. “What’s your name?”

“Aust. Max Aust.” He downed the remainder of his drink. “I can give you a window between midnight and eight tomorrow morning to leave without anyone else realising you’ve gone. After that, there’s nothing more I can do.”

Indiana nodded.

“Good luck, then,” he said, and slid his own, untouched drink across the table.

Aust accepted it and raised it in a mock salute as Indiana stood.

Joestar stayed seated. His mouth was a thin line, and his eyes were hidden by his hair.

“Thank you,” he said, eventually. He pushed his drink to the middle of the table, then stood up and joined Indiana in heading for the door.

* * *

  
“When do you reckon we should leave?” Joestar asked as they stepped out into the cool night air.

“Early morning,” Indiana replied. “It’ll be a long trip, so it’d be best to rest first. Around six?” He paused as a gaggle of drunks stumbled past; laughing and talking loudly. “You said you’d found someone who can help us with the map?”

Joestar nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Guy said he’d come with us at least some of the way – for enough money, of course.”

“And do you _have_ enough money?”

“ _Obviously_.” Joestar rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t. Anyway, guy runs a stall in the market, said he starts setting up around five.”

“Good,” Indiana said. “You and Abraham can go get him, then. The rest of us can meet you at the docks, provided Seabrooke has managed to get ahold of a boat by then.”

“Oh, is _that_ where he went?”

Indiana sighed.

“You _really_ weren’t paying attention, were you?”

* * *

  
Seabrooke, thankfully, was already back when they got back to the hotel.

“Uh-oh,” Luna said, upon their entry. “That’s not a good look.”

“We got the map,” Indiana said, “but we need to leave before sunrise. Seabrooke, you got us a boat?”

“Yeah,” Seabrooke replied. “Good job we already packed, huh?”

“I’ll go speak to reception about leaving the stuff we’re not taking here,” Joestar said. “Give it two weeks – I figure if we’re gone any longer, well…”

Yeah. If they were gone longer than that, they probably weren’t coming back at all.

He shrugged, and on that depressingly morbid note, left the room.

Zeppeli stared after him for a minute, then jumped to her feet and hurried after him.

“You ever get the feeling,” Abraham mused, staring after them, “that Joestar knows more than he’s letting on?”

Indiana didn’t say anything, just folded his arms.

“Well,” Seabrooke said, “whatever it is, I’m honestly kinda glad I don’t know whatever he does. Guy’s been getting more and more stressed the closer we get to this thing.”

Abraham nodded.

“Right! And whenever I’m thinking of asking him about it, he just goes and disappears!”

Indiana frowned. He hadn’t noticed that before, but Abraham was right.

That wouldn’t be a concern for much longer, though. It wouldn’t be as easy for him to get away in the middle of a rainforest.

* * *

  
The next morning went much more smoothly than they’d expected. Indiana, Luna and Seabrooke arrived to collect the boat at five, then took it to the pre-arranged meeting point.

Joestar, Abraham and their ‘guide’, Ramires, joined them at half-past five.

And so, by the time eight o’clock rolled around, the group were long gone and Max Aust, who had let them go, was a dead man walking.

* * *

  
They didn’t leave the boat at all for the whole morning.

Until sunrise, Ramires took charge of driving, for obvious reasons. After that, for the first few hours of daylight, Abraham, with much complaining, took over so Indiana could go over the map with Ramires.

All he’d got out of the thing the previous night was that they needed to head up-river, which was a good start, but they still had a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile, Luna was curled up at the front of the boat, asleep; Seabrooke, who couldn’t drive boats, was watching the business with the map; and Joestar, who apparently also couldn’t drive boats, was watching Abraham drive _._

And things proceeded in more-or-less that vein until around noon, when they reached a breakthrough, and Ramires called for them to pull over to the bank.

Once they had the others all gathered round, Ramires began his explanation.

“Well, I must say it was a good job the starting directions were marked separately from the map – this thing was a huge pain to figure out. In fact, due to the lack of actual labels, the main problem was finding a reference point. We finally found one here,” he said, resting his finger on the point in question. “This is the point where _Rio Negro_ joins _Solimões_ , in Manaus. Then, here,” he continued, moving his finger along the line depicting the river to a second junction, “is the point where it is joined by _Japurá_. The directions say we’re to continue along this river until there, then turn off and travel several miles up _Japurá_ – until this sharp bend, here. Then, we’re to disembark on the north bank and proceed north-east by foot.”

“Once we reach that point, we’ll have to find somewhere to hide the boat,” Indiana added.

There was silence for a while.

“That’s a real fucking long way,” Joestar said, eventually.

“That it is,” Ramires agreed. He paused. “Please tell me we have a compass?”

All of them nodded.

“Good,” Ramires said, “then we can continue. If you don’t mind, I shall take over the steering. Doctor Jones, I will leave the map to you.”

And after the necessary reshuffling, they were off again.

After a few minutes, the relative silence was broken.

“I have a question!” Luna called, over the rushing wind. “What happens after that!?”

“That’s where the map ends!” Indiana shouted back, tilting the map so she could see. “After that, we have to follow the written directions on the rear! Thankfully, the museum had them translated ages ago, otherwise we’d be stuck!” He turned the map over and showed her; the translation written, in English, next to the original text.

“What does it mean!?” Luna asked.

“Impossible to tell!” Indiana replied. “It seems to relate directly to the immediate surroundings, so I guess it’s a ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ situation!”

“Got it, thanks!” Luna replied, then shuffled back towards the front of the boat.

* * *

  
Joestar’s earlier statement of ‘a long fucking way’ sadly wasn’t an understatement. By Indiana’s estimation, it was at least a 500km route, possibly more. It definitely felt like more, given by this point they’d been traveling for about twelve or so hours. Indiana wasn’t entirely sure about that either, but sunset had been creeping up on them for a while now, so it wasn’t unlikely.

Ramires and Abraham had switched again in the mid-afternoon so Ramires could get some sleep, then drive throughout the night. They had no intention of stopping unless absolutely necessary, and they had enough fuel with them to last at least a round trip.

“Hang on a sec,” Seabrooke said, sitting up from his previous position of reclining against the side. “Why didn’t we take the other river? _Rio Negro_? That would’ve been quicker, wouldn’t it?”

“Probably,” Indiana said. “But the directions were very specific – I think the instructions that follow would be useless if we approached from the wrong direction. And…” He paused. “Well, there’s a warning on the map. There wasn’t a translation for it, just a note saying it wasn’t to be taken lightly.”

“Right, better safe than sorry,” Seabrooke said, nodding.

“Hey, can I take a look?” Joestar asked.

Indiana flipped the map around and handed it over.

Joestar squinted at it.

“This bit here?” He asked, pointing.

Indiana nodded.

“Yeah, that’s a warning to take seriously,” Joestar said. “I’ve seen something like this before – pretty much exactly this, actually.”

“You can read it?” Indiana asked.

“No, I _recognise_ it. Person who showed it me told me the translation. It’s… Not something you forget in a hurry.” He went quiet. “Very, uh… Explicit.”

“I take it,” Indiana said, observing the queasy expression on Joestar’s face, “that we don’t want to know.”

“No, you don’t,” said Joestar. He sounded relieved not to be pressed. “But, needless to say, it promises a horrific and painful death if you don’t show the proper respect. I guess following these instructions is a part of that?”

“I think it’s safe to assume so, yes,” Indiana said, taking the map back when Joestar offered it. “Whoever used to live there must’ve been pretty important.”

Luna, who was leaning over the edge of the boat and staring at the water, jerked in a violent coughing fit, and almost pitched herself in headfirst.

As Joestar lunged over to grab her, rocking the boat in the process, Indiana swore he caught a glimpse of a grin on his face.

* * *

  
As the dark of night became more and more absolute, they reduced their speed considerably and continued their journey hugging the right bank of the river.

Ramires took over at around midnight, leaving everyone else except Luna, who had volunteered to take over with the map, free to get some sleep.

Abraham was the first to drift off, hunched over with his head propped up by his hand.

Seabrooke went next, head tipped sideways onto his own shoulder and slouching in a very uncomfortable looking position.

Indiana wasn’t sure when Joestar fell asleep, mostly because there was very little sign of it. He was still sat mostly upright, arms folded tight across his chest, and his breathing mostly kept to its usual (almost unnaturally) steady rhythm. The only breaks in it were the occasional stutter, breath catching in his throat as if it were restricted somehow. In fact, that was the main indicator he was actually asleep and not just keeping quiet out of courtesy for the others.

He didn’t remember falling asleep himself, but he woke to the sun low in the sky and Ramires lightly hitting him in the chest with his own hat.

He took about a minute to come to fully, by which time Abraham and Seabrooke were already fully alert.

Joestar was still asleep, but Luna was leaning in his direction. She stared at him for a minute, then shrugged and stuck her foot in his side, immediately jumping back as his hand flashed out to grab her ankle.

“Oi, JoJo,” she said, far too chirpily for someone who’d apparently been awake all night and leant back towards him as he rubbed his eyes. “We’re here! Quit snoozing!”

“Hey, hey,” Joestar complained, swatting half-heartedly at her. “No need for that, Luna.” He paused, and Indiana could see his mouth was drawn down in a genuine frown. “Sorry.” He removed his other hand from his face, and his expression shifted to a wan grin.

In all honesty, he looked terrible – like he hadn’t slept at all. And this was clearly an ongoing issue, if the dark circles under his eyes were any indication. What was most concerning to Indiana, though, was his instinctive lashing out upon waking and, if her caution was anything to go by, the fact that Luna had known to expect it.

What the hell kind of things had that kid got himself into to provoke reactions like that?

* * *

  
It was about twelve hours (and many stops) into their hike later that their youngest member reached her breaking point.

“Okay,” she said, after tripping over a branch for the tenth time in as many minutes. “I know I’m a student, and I’m supposed to be able to go days without sleep. But this is getting ridiculous.”

The group trailed to a halt, and Luna stumbled and had to grab a tree for support.

“I have been awake for way too long,” she said. “I am starting to see double. I am forgetting English.”

“Does anyone else need to stop?” Indiana asked.

The others all replied in the negative.

“We should cover as much ground as possible during daylight,” Ramires said, giving Luna an apologetic look.

Joestar shrugged his backpack off.

“Can someone else carry this?” He asked.

Indiana, catching where he was going, took it.

“We can take turns,” he said, as Joestar turned his back to Luna.

“C’mon, Lu, hop up,” he said.

Luna groaned and flopped against his back, looping her arms loosely around his neck once he crouched down. Joestar laughed at her, hooked his own arms under her knees and stood back up.

“Alright,” Indiana said, once everyone was sorted, “let’s keep going.”

* * *

  
They stopped for the night an hour or two after sunset.

Luna had woken at some point in the mid-afternoon and been able to carry on without much trouble, though she was clearly still tired.

They’d been planning on continuing for longer, but then Seabrooke; who’d apparently only slept for an hour or two on the boat, managed to walk straight into a tree. He fell flat on his back and refused to get up again.

So, they set up a rough camp, ate, and laid out a plan for the night.

They decided it would be best to sleep in shifts, pairing up and doing four hours each so they could leave just before dawn. Luna, as the youngest, and Ramires, as the guide, were both excluded from this duty.

Seabrooke had passed out halfway through planning, so he got to go second. Abraham was quick to follow, having had the second least sleep of any of them.

And that left Indiana alone with Joestar for the first four hours.

Indiana hadn’t had all that much time over the past few days to think about _that_ mess of a situation, but it had just kept getting stranger – one thing stacking on top of another to create a picture that was concerning, to say the least. So, after about half-an-hour of alternating awkward silence and even more awkward small-talk, he decided to start prodding – starting with an innocuous opening that would hopefully help get Joestar’s guard down.

“I’ve been thinking,” Indiana said. “Remember that call we got, back in Recife, about a third party being involved?”

“Yeah,” Joestar replied. “Why?”

“Well, it’s just that, after that, we never heard anything else about them. And we’ve been on pretty high alert, and we’ve not seen any sign of them ourselves.”

Thinking back, that was stranger than he’d thought. Something niggled at the back of Indiana’s mind, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

He stared at Joestar thoughtfully, who in turn was staring at the canopy above him as if it held answers.

“What do you think?” He asked, eventually.

“Maybe they lost track of us?” Joestar suggested, absently. “Heck, maybe the Nazis found out about them too and, ah…”

“Got to them?”

“Yeah.”

Indiana sighed.

“It’s possible,” he allowed. “But either way, who could it be? Who else could even _know_ about this, let alone be invested enough to try and find it?”

Joestar just shrugged and continued staring upwards.

“You’ve been holding something back,” Indiana said, eventually. “I can tell. You know more about this than you’ve been letting on – and it’s clearly something that’s been bothering you.”

Joestar sighed.

“Yeah, I guess I have.” He shifted, turned his stare to Indiana. “Remember when I told you that the – the _thing_ had got a lot of people killed?”

Indiana nodded.

“That’s a bit of an underestimation, and at the same time not quite accurate. But that’s not the point – the point is that it, directly or indirectly, has got the last three generations of men in my family killed, and the same for Luna. And. And her brother, too.” He bit down on his lip, hard, but not quite hard enough to draw blood. “This is very personal, for us. And more than anything I don’t want this to be the same, but the closer we get the surer I am.” He gave a sharp inhale, forced a grin. “You have another question on your mind.”

That wasn’t a question. It was a statement, and it was correct.

“Yes,” Indiana said. “Why do you always wear those gloves?”

He’d been wondering for a while but had figured it wasn’t important enough to ask about – just some eccentricity. Now, however, he wasn’t quite so sure.

Joestar nodded.

“Well, that’s easy,” he said. “I’ll show you.”

He took his right glove off first, revealing a perfectly normal hand.

Then he took the left one off, revealing… Revealing what might’ve been a perfectly normal hand, other than the fact it was made of metal. It was obviously a prosthetic, but it was unlike anything Indiana had ever seen before.

“Oh.” He said.

“I’d really appreciate if you kept this to yourself,” Joestar said. “We’ve worked far too hard to keep the government getting its grubby hands on the tech before now.”

“No, I get it,” Indiana said. “I’d prefer not to think about the kind of things they could do with that,” he continued, as Joestar curled metal fingers into a loose fist. “If you don’t mind…”

“Oh, got chopped off,” Joestar said, far too nonchalantly, answering Indiana’s question before he could ask. “In an incident connected to the, uh, _thing_. I got lucky, really.” He winced, then roughly tugged his gloves back on. “It’s kind of a long story, but it’s related to the plane crash I mentioned before, and I think that’s all I have to say on the matter.”

Indiana opened his mouth to speak again, to ask what else he knew about this mysterious artefact, but Joestar held up a finger to cut him off.

“Okay, first of all, I don’t know how it works, I never got to see it. Secondly, I’ve _told you_ , call me Joseph. And third, no I won’t tell you how I did this, because that would be no fun.” He said.

Indiana stared at him.

Joestar – no, Joseph; the man would be insufferable if he didn’t comply with his request again – grinned at him, the smile actually reaching his eyes for the first time in days.

That wasn’t why Indiana let it go. No, it was definitely because there was no use pushing further now, not when they were both tired and on guard. Not at all because he didn’t want to sour the much-lightened mood.

* * *

  
It did take Indiana much, much longer than he’d like to admit that Joseph had, with the pair of shocking revelations and the (admittedly impressive) trick, made him almost completely forget his original reason for starting the conversation.

In fact, it didn’t even click that he’d probably done it deliberately until the next day, several hours into their trek.

And with that, that lingering doubt began to surface again.

First off, who the hell _was_ Joseph Joestar anyway? He’d not once mentioned what sort of work he did, where he was from, or anything like that. They knew practically nothing about him. He allegedly worked for British Intelligence (probably true, given Ross’ behaviour at the meeting), but showed no signs of any sort of military background, not to mention his age. How did a seemingly normal civilian (with an admittedly bizarre family history) not only come to work for an intelligence agency, but also have two Nazi soldiers who were really spies owe him favours? And for someone with no background in archaeology he sure knew a lot about his grandfather’s paper, even taking into account his personal stake in things.

There was something going on here, Indiana knew it, and Joseph was much more involved than he’d thought.

* * *

  
Somewhat tellingly, Joseph insisted on switching up the pairings for that night’s watch. He did it in a way that meant no-one who wasn’t paying close attention would notice, but Indiana was. He didn’t think any of the others did though, except perhaps Ramires, though he seemed not to care what they did anyway.

The new arrangement had Indiana taking the first watch with Abraham, and Seabrooke and Joseph would go second.

“You’ve noticed it too, right?” Abraham asked, once the others were asleep.

“What,” Indiana said, “the whole…” He made a vague hand gesture. “With Joseph?”

“Yeah,” Abraham replied. “Despite the fact he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, he’s adjusted way too well to this whole situation.” He sighed. “Zeppeli… _Luna_ , she’s definitely reacting how I’d expect – trying not to panic, but not entirely succeeding, as well as looking to the rest of us for support. Joes- _Joseph_ has been way too calm. His behaviour has been very controlled, but also…”

“He’s been acting like it’s familiar,” Indiana said, the realisation reaching him as he said it.

“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Abraham said. “And you remember what that guy, Haber, I think, said back in Recife? Something about Switzerland?”

“Yeah?”

“And that guy who tipped you off in Manaus? You think there’s a connection?”

_/“ I remember… Switzerland. I— I cannot allow that again. Not ever.”_

_/“This is still, as it was then, a cause I am prepared to die for.”_

“Maybe…” Indiana said, slowly. “But if there is… Then there has to be a connection to what’s going on now, right? And that begs the question…”

“What the hell happened in Switzerland…?”

“… And why is Joseph hiding it?”

* * *

  
It was nearing nightfall of the next day when they finally reached the end of the trail marked out on the map.

“Well,” said Ramires. “Here we are.”

They all gathered round as he flipped over the map.

“The text indicates there should be some sort of stone marker around here,” he said.

“After such a long time it’s unlikely there’s much, if any, of it left,” Indiana said. “Anything else?”

“The diagram is probably more useful. If I had to guess, it’s supposed to, in part, represent the landscape surrounding the temple.” He squinted at it. “The trees were probably sparser when this was originally drawn, so we’ll have to take that into consideration.”

“Do you think getting up high would help?” Luna asked.

“Probably,” Ramires replied.

Luna shrugged off her pack, handing it to Indiana, took the map and vanished up the nearest tree.

Ramires sighed.

“She’d better not fall,” he said.

“Don’t worry, she won’t,” Joseph replied, sounding supremely unconcerned.

And, true to his word, Luna scrambled back down, none the worse for wear, only a handful of minutes later.

“I couldn’t see much,” she said, handing the map back and brushing leaves from her hair, “because of how dark it is, but the trees over there seem to be grouped differently.” She pointed almost directly ahead of them. “Maybe a clearing, something like that?”

* * *

  
The temple didn’t loom, exactly. It would have done, had they been level with the very bottom, but they weren’t. It was pretty close, though. Despite only appearing around three or four storeys tall at first glance, it was an impressive construction, even if you didn’t decide to look down.

It was set into a pit, dropping down around seven storeys, at a guess. It clearly wasn’t a natural formation, indeed if one were to look close enough you wouldn’t see a single unmanufactured gap in the entire structure. It was intricately carved and just pushed the limits of what should have been physically possible to build.

There was a narrow bridge running to the huge central platform, which itself was several metres thick. The base was the same size as the first two storeys up, and then each successive layer between it and the platform decreased incrementally in a step-like formation. The platform was supported by a number of gracefully arched supports arranged symmetrically around the centre, all decorated with patterns too intricate for the naked eye to make out the detail. Looking upwards brought a similar view, a step-like structure finishing with a steeply curved overhang, leaving the entire structure similar in shape to a particularly elaborate fountain or vase.

The walls of the pit, beneath the mass of climbing plants, were also coated in carvings the same as the temple itself.

In fact, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that the entire structure had been carved, painstakingly and over possibly hundreds of years, out of the very ground.

“Wow…” Whispered Luna, taking a half step closer. “That’s… Huge…”

“No kidding…” Seabrooke muttered. He paused. “Hey.” He said. “You think whoever had this built was, y’know…”

“Compensating for something?” Abraham finished, helpfully.

Joseph muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like ‘doubtful’.

Whatever it was, it caused Luna to let out a half wheeze half shriek of laughter and double over in a choking fit.

“You okay, kid?” Indiana asked.

Luna gave him a thumbs up in response, then punched Joseph hard in the arm.

“Alright, children,” Ramires said. “Let’s head over. We aren’t done yet.”

“Right, sorry,” Joseph said, patting Luna carefully on the back.

And then they set off across the bridge, Indiana in the lead with one torch and Sergeant Abraham with another at the rear.

* * *

  
The main entryway was huge. A towering arched door of solid stone, carvings even more intricate than the walls. Sadly, however, there didn’t appear to be any way to open it.

“Maybe there’s another way in?” Seabrooke suggested, staring up at the admittedly fairly intimidating carvings above them.

“I dunno,” Joseph said, following his gaze. “Place seems like a fortress – doubt they’d leave any back entrances.” His tone was thoughtful, but at the same time curiously distant. “But… If that’s the case, there’s probably vents somewhere, probably near the top?”

“Makes sense,” Indiana said, “I mean, if it does seal up as perfectly as it seems, they wouldn’t want everyone inside to suffocate to death. That’d be pretty counterproductive.”

“Exactly,” Joseph said, nodding.

A heavy silence draped across them.

Though no-one moved, all gazes fell upon the same location.

“Oh, c’mon,” Luna complained. “Really?”

“You are the smallest,” Abraham pointed out.

“And you seem pretty good at climbing,” Seabrooke added.

“You’ve got good background knowledge,” Ramires noted. “Should be able to get around alright.”

“They’re right,” Indiana said. “I hate to say it, but you’re probably the only one of us who _can_ do this.”

Luna sighed, glanced at Joseph.

“As much as I’d like to, there is no way I’m fitting in any sort of vents,” he said, shrugging. “And… Well, as long as you keep an eye out for traps you should be fine.”

“If there are any traps,” Indiana cut in, shooting Joseph a glare, “they’re probably inactive by now.”

“Yeah,” said Joseph, tone flat. “Just don’t hurt yourself, okay?”

Luna seemed to hear something in his words that the rest of them didn’t, for her expression dipped in a frown.

She sighed again.

“Right, I’ll go,” she said, sliding off her pack. She cracked her knuckles and stared, determined, up at the stone wall that was, now, looming before them in the growing twilight. “Near the top, right?”

“Probably,” Indiana said.

She nodded.

“Someone give me a torch.”

* * *

  
Luna climbed the temple much slower than she had the tree. She took her time; carefully picking out a route that avoided some of the more delicate looking structures. Occasionally she stopped, pulled out the torch and swept the beam along the length of the temple.

As darkness settled in completely, she slowly vanished from sight; her progress only tracked by the beam of the torch whenever it flicked on.

And as they lost sight of her, they all, one by one, turned their attention back to the door.

“I’ve gotta admit,” Abraham said, begrudgingly, “it’s very impressive.”

“Must’ve taken years to build this…” Ramires said, shaking his head. “And the way it’s been built… No wonder no-one’s reported finding it before – come at it from the wrong angle, you’d never find it.”

“And if you did…” Picked up Seabrooke, wandering over to the edge, “well, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more than one body down there.”

“Mm,” Joseph said, absently. He was crouched down near the door, digging through his bag. He hadn’t said anything since Luna had headed up.

“Something wrong?” Indiana asked, taking a step closer.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Joseph said. He pulled something out of his bag and shoved it into one of his pockets, then dropped his hands back into it. He stayed there, motionless for a moment. “I just think,” he said, eventually, not looking round as he slowly fastened the bag, “that we should be careful.”

He sighed and let his head fall forward, pressing it against the door for a moment.

As he did, the torch, now far above them, flicked back on; followed by a muffled scraping noise.

“I’ve got it!” Luna called. The light dimmed significantly. “I’m headed in, shouldn’t be long!”

Joseph stood up and took a couple of steps back, leaving him stood next to Indiana. He wasn’t frowning, but he wasn’t smiling either. His expression was, all in all, more serious than it had been for the entire trip so far.

A few minutes later, true to her word, the immense stone doors began to, oh-so-slowly, grind their way open.

* * *

  
It may have been dark outside, but without the faint starlight it was even darker inside. It was also wonderfully dry, the sticky humidity of the rainforest replaced with the cool dry air reminiscent of a crypt. The carvings were just as intricate inside as out, with sharp and swirling patterns both creating an impressive abstract work. There were long empty torch brackets lining the walls, and the entirety of it carried a surprising lack of dust.

“That door opened way easier than I thought it would,” Luna said, accepting her bag when Indiana offered it to her. “After such a long time of disuse, you’d think the mechanisms would have jammed at least a bit.”

“Yeah…” Said Joseph. He sounded thoughtful. “Well, they certainly knew how to build things to last back then!”

This got a laugh out of both Seabrooke and Ramires.

“This place is so weird,” Abraham muttered, running a finger along the wall. “How clean it is…”

“It being clean is probably the least of our worries,” Indiana said. “We need to keep moving. Now, given prior experience, we need to head either right to the top or right to the bottom.”

“Bottom was the biggest, right? That seems likely.” Ramires said.

“Yeah,” said Indiana. “Hey, you coming with us?”

“You’re kidding? This is the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in years, of course I’m coming.”

“Hm…” Luna said. “Well, I had to come through the upper levels on the way here, and I didn’t see anything interesting, so it probably _is_ at the bottom. And Ramires has a point – the bigger it is the more important it is, usually.”

“Alright,” Indiana said. “Down it is.”

* * *

  
Roughly seven flights of stairs and several more minutes later, they arrived at the very bottom of the temple. Stood awaiting them was a massive door, even more impressive than the entrance. This, unlike the other, had not been subjected to the full force of the weather, and as such the carvings were as sharp and the colours as crisp as the day it was made.

“Yeah,” Indiana said. “This is definitely it.”

“This place is fancy as hell,” Seabrooke said, pivoting to stare around at the room in awe. “Who was important enough to have this built for them…?”

“Given that this is a _temple_ ,” Joseph said, the acid leaking into his tone surprising Indiana, “I’d say that ‘The Gods’ is a pretty good assumption.”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” said Seabrooke, clearly also shocked by the sudden change in tone. “But, well, it’s not like they’d be using the place, right? Just priests and stuff?”

He glanced at Indiana for confirmation, and Indiana gave him a nod.

Joseph’s mouth turned sharply down.

He muttered something very quietly, under his breath. Indiana could just about hear him, but it was in Italian, so he couldn’t understand it. Luna clearly heard _and_ understood, as she frowned unhappily.

He turned on his heel and stalked over to the wall to the left of the door.

“Luna,” he called, “bring that torch over here, would you?”

She hurried over to join him and the others followed more slowly, the change in mood all the more evident.

It wasn’t even Joseph’s sudden snappishness – at least, not entirely. Despite the beauty and stillness of the temple, there was something deeply unsettling about the place; something Indiana just couldn’t put his finger on, not to mention the weird comments Joseph kept making.

The others clearly felt it too, even if they hadn’t consciously noticed – everyone had become far more cautious and much less chatty ever since entering.

Joseph ran his hands across the wall, occasionally muttering things under his breath.

“Ah,” he said, finally, “here we are.”

His hand was resting on a barely noticeable groove in the stone, just about the right size for sticking your fingers into – which was exactly what Joseph did. Then he crooked them and tugged to the right, resulting in a click, then a groan as a section of the wall slid away underneath.

It wasn’t very big, about two and a half inches square, and Joseph, of course, wasted no time in sticking his arm into it.

He wiggled his arm around for a bit, turning and sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, before he stilled, lips quirking in a satisfied grin.

“Got it,” he said, and started pulling his arm out. When it was up to the elbow, he began to walk backwards, and out from the hole, clasped firmly in one hand, came a thick, sturdy chain.

As he moved back, the immense doors, slowly and painstakingly, began to slide open, creeping away from them at an almost torturously slow pace.

Indiana took a torch and scanned the rest of what must have been an antechamber.

“Hey,” he said, getting Joseph’s attention. “I think you’re meant to hook the chain onto that statue to keep it in place.”

Joseph glanced over at where Indiana was pointing and nodded, taking the chain in both hands.

“Got it,” he said. When he reached it, he gave it a once-over and sighed. “A hand, please?”

It was Abraham who stepped up to help, and between the two of them they managed to successfully secure the chain to the statue after about a minute of scuffling.

And now they could head in.

Indiana was hesitant, though.

Aside from the generally creepy vibes of the place and Joseph’s attitude shift, both he _and_ Luna had been worryingly quiet ever since they’d started their descent; and both seemed way too familiar with a place that it was impossible for either of them to have visited before.

Perhaps he should have pushed harder when questioning Joseph earlier.

Perhaps what had happened in the past wasn’t quite as irrelevant as he’d made it out to be.

* * *

  
The room beyond the doors was enormous.

It was at least two entire storeys high, with a mezzanine half-way up. It had columns reaching up to it all along the room’s near hundred metre length.

At the far end of the room, only just visible, there was a dais.

“That has to be it,” Ramires whispered, echoing Indiana’s thoughts exactly.

It was a long, slow walk to the other end of the room; their footsteps echoing strangely off the high ceiling and distant walls. The light from the torches threw vast and deep shadows across the walls and floor – the kind of shadows that you would hesitate to step into, the way they seemed to eat up all the light that came near them.

If Indiana had thought the temple a little eerie before, now it was downright creepy.

He had taken the lead again, with Joseph right behind him and the rest following in a clump.

As they approached the dais, they saw that set upon it was an altar.

And as they reached the altar, they saw what lay upon it.

What lay upon it…

Was a mask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying this so far! Next (and last proper) chapter should be up in about a week or so!  
> Until then, my tumblr is h2-oh-fic, please drop by if you like my stuff and/or want to know more about the au as a whole/lore/ocs/whatever.  
> Also, yes I did draw a sketch of the temple so I could describe it better. I also have a design for Luna, so if anyone wants to see that just lmk!


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it folks! The climax, consisting almost entirely of fight scenes and expositionary flashbacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going up a bit later than planned due to personal stuff, but here we go! Mind the updates to the tags and warnings, those are entirely for this chapter. Featuring a fun little cameo at the end!

It took Indiana approximately three seconds from laying eyes on the mask to realise something was wrong.

One. There was a sharp intake of breath and a curse from Joseph beside him. Two. He realised that the sound of footsteps before had been far too loud to only come from a group of six. Three. A gunshot rang out.

Ramires collapsed to the floor, clutching his leg with a pained yell.

Indiana and the others whipped around, aside from Luna who dropped her knees next to Ramires.

About half-way down the room was, of course, a group of around a dozen Nazi soldiers.

Which meant that even the head start that Aust had given them hadn’t been enough.

“Ah shit,” Abraham muttered, edging sideways to put himself between them and Luna and Ramires. “Not again.”

“Hold still!” Shouted the man at the head of the group, gun still raised. “Unless anyone else wants to get shot?!”

* * *

  
A few minutes later, their situation was almost as bad as it could get.

Their bags were all tossed to the side of the room and they were all tied up around the altar. The Nazi Captain stood in front of them, mask held aloft with one hand as he admired it. His other hand dripped blood where Luna had bitten him during a brief struggle when they’d dragged her away from trying to treat Ramires.

A couple of them had even gone to the trouble of lighting proper torches and filling the brackets on the walls.

“Who would have thought…” The Captain said. “Something like _this_ causing so much fuss.”

Ramires gave an unintelligible groan from where he was lying off to the side of the altar.

Joseph, who was on Indiana’s right side, bumped against him as he fidgeted nervously.

“Hm…” The Captain mused, “I do wonder what it does…” He reached up with his other hand to examine it more closely.

There was an aborted sound from Indiana’s right that sounded very much like a protest.

“Oh? What was that? Did you have something to say?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” Joseph said. “Don’t mind me, I think strained something. Those doors were heavy as hell, and none’a these assholes bothered helping out, y’know?”

“Hmm…” The Captain said again. He took a slow, deliberate step forward. “Well, in that case, I’m sure you won’t have any objection to us testing it?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Joseph said, keeping his voice admirably level.

“Well…” The man took another step forward. “We both know that this mask was used in ritual sacrifice – a supposition made all the more clear by our surroundings. I just wonder, since you seem so unconcerned, if it really holds any risk at all!” He took another couple of paces forward, and Joseph shifted in response, pressing back against the altar as much as possible. “And if that’s the case, I’m sure you won’t mind putting it on for us, will you?”

“I’d much rather you didn’t!” Joseph said, sliding down slightly as the Captain crouched down in front of him. “You’re not-!” He broke off, voice rising in panic, as the Captain flipped the mask around and held it out as if to put it on him. “You’re not wrong!” He blurted out.

The mask stopped moving.

“You’re not wrong,” Joseph repeated, voice more level but still with an edge of panic to it. “It _was_ used in ritual sacrifice, but not in the way you would think. You think it’s an execution device, and technically—” he cut himself off. “It doesn’t kill you to put it on. It… The mask, it doesn’t have powers in itself, but if you put it on and activate it…”

“What the hell are you saying?” Indiana hissed when Joseph trailed off again. “Have you known all this _the whole time?_ ”

Joseph nodded rapidly, not taking his eyes from the mask still held mere inches from his face.

“But it’s just a mask,” Abraham said from somewhere to _Joseph_ ’s right. “A _ceremonial mask_. It can’t do shit!”

The Captain turned towards him, but didn’t move the mask.

“Ah, so you’re volunteering?”

“No, no he isn’t!” Joseph interjected.

“Hmph.” The Captain turned back to Joseph and finally drew the mask back, letting the face turn towards the floor. “So,” he said. “You know how this works. Tell me, or we start putting more holes in your friends – starting with the girl.”

Joseph stared at him for a long, long moment.

Finally, he nodded.

“You know you’re bleeding, right?” He said. “It’s all over your hand.”

The Captain glanced down at said appendage.

“What about it?”

“Wipe the blood on the mask. Then just watch. You’ll see.” He sounded tired.

The Captain didn’t even need to move. A single drop of blood fell from his bleeding hand and landed dead in the centre of the mask.

The thick silence that followed was broken painfully by a noise like a bolt being drawn.

Several spike-like protrusions now jutted from various points around the interior of the mask. One of them had narrowly missed the hand of the man holding it, whose face had gone white with shock.

He stared down at it, then up at Joseph with a cold smirk.

“You claim this doesn’t kill you? Do you think I’m stupid!?”

“I’ve only just met you, so I couldn’t possibly say, but I’m not lying!” Joseph said. “I can assure you, it does what I said! How do you think I know so much about the damn thing!? There was another, used right before my eyes!”

“Hmm,” the Captain said, smirk settling into a self-satisfied grin. “Yes, I think you are being honest. You seem to value your companions’ lives too much to risk it.” He stood up and took a step back. “Certainly, it must hurt, but pain is nothing in pursuit of such power.”

He swiped his bloody hand across the now normal appearing mask and set it on his face.

That horrible noise sounded again; and Joseph flinched and started fidgeting faster.

The man collapsed to the floor, and two of the other soldiers stepped forward.

Josephs feet slid on the smooth floor, knocking into Indiana’s leg, then he flung himself sideways, slamming into Abraham with a grunt. At the same time, a leg hooked into Indiana’s arm and he was yanked to the left, toppling him to the side as a body fell into the space that he and Joseph had just been in.

It was one of the two soldiers who’d moved forward, and there was another figure crouched upon his crumpled form. It was the Captain. The mask was held loosely in one hand, and the other hand, the one that was still bleeding—

The other hand—

Indiana couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Every finger on the other hand was buried in the fallen soldier’s neck, veins throbbing dark around the point of connection.

The other soldier stumbled back, a squeak of terror escaping him as the thing that used to be the Captain pulled out his fingers and turned its head slowly in his direction.

He wasn’t anywhere near quick enough.

The Captain lunged at him, clearing the almost five-foot gap in a flash, and, with a gurgling scream, the unfortunate soldier collapsed to the ground in much the same manner as his fellow.

The body closest to them shifted.

The leg unhooked from Indiana’s arm amid rapid Italian muttering. Luna, sprawled on her back beside him, was staring at the scene before them wide-eyed and ashen faced. She swallowed hard and began to shuffle back towards Ramires.

There was a tug at Indiana’s arm.

Craning his neck, he saw Joseph crouched beside him and slicing through the rope with a knife, his own bonds lying coiled on the ground at the other end of the altar.

“Doctor Jones,” he said, voice low and far too calm. “I need you to take this and cut the others free. Get the mask. Hide. In that order.” He finished cutting and flipped the knife around to offer Indiana the hilt.

After a moment of hesitation, disguised by rubbing the feeling back into his hands, Indiana took it.

Joseph gave him a reassuring grin and stood. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and sauntered away in the direction of the carnage.

Indiana stared after him.

He should have realised sooner – Joseph had been with their mysterious third party right from the start, he had to have been. But did that mean Luna was as well? Or was it just a coincidence that the two had already known each other, and he’d used her as an in? And if she was, then, well, why stop there? What about Ramires?

* * *

  
Leandro Ramires regretted few things in life.

Two things he regretted right now, however, were not ditching the group the second they’d found the damn place (to a degree), and not paying more attention when Robert started rambling on about his nephew (a whole lot).

Because honestly, what were the odds?

He was _supposed_ to be retired, not dealing with this bullshit.

He shifted and bit back a groan as pain shot through his injured leg.

He should have left the second he started to suspect what they were looking for.

…

Ah, who was he kidding?

He would never have forgiven himself, provided he lived long enough to regret it.

* * *

  
By the time the Captain and the two now upright corpses noticed Joseph approaching them, Indiana had successfully freed Abraham and the two of them were now working on Luna and Seabrooke.

“ _What_ do you think you’re doing?” The Captain hissed, a noise escaping him that should have been impossible for a human throat to make.

Joseph stopped and gave a casual shrug as the other, still normal, soldiers unfroze and began to slowly back away.

“Ah, I’m just curious,” he said. “I’ve never seen it this early on before.”

“What do you mean?” The Captain asked.

“Well, the transformation process of course!”

“Transformation…”

“Uh, yeah? Geez you haven’t figured it out yet? You just drained those guys dry, man.”

The rope Indiana was cutting gave way just as he lost his grip on the knife.

No. Fucking. Way.

“Yeah,” Luna sighed, sympathetic expression crossing her face. “Those guys are vampires.”

“ _They’re what?!_ ” Seabrooke squeaked.

So. She had been in on it, with Joseph, from the start. Not that he was complaining at this point.

“I’ve never actually seen one in person before,” Luna whispered, picking up the knife and beginning to edge over to Ramires’ side. “But they’re extremely dangerous and very hard for a normal person to kill, which is why you need to get out of this place as quickly as possible.”

She glanced over at Joseph, who was still talking.

“ _Quickly_ ,” she said, beginning to cut through the rope binding Ramires. “We need to take advantage of the distraction.”

So, he _was_ stalling.

There was a bang.

A spray of blood burst from the Captain’s shoulder, but the man… The _vampire_ didn’t even flinch. Instead, he turned ever-so-slowly around to face the terrified soldier who’d just shot him. His shoulders hunched up slightly, and Indiana heard a low, echoing snarl as the other two mimicked him.

By all appearances, they had lost any semblance of rationality they had still retained.

The unfortunate soldier who’s taken the shot let out a whimper and took a half step back.

Indiana didn’t manage to tear his eyes away from the scene until the first throat was torn out – too sharp teeth tearing into flesh, cartilage and bone and spraying blood everywhere.

By the time he returned his attention to his comrades, they were in the process of hoisting Ramires onto Abraham’s back.

“C’mon,” Luna hissed, “before they’re done with that lot. Down the side of the room so we don’t get too close.”

“Can’t they, I dunno, _see in the dark_?” Seabrooke hissed back as they hurried as quietly as they could over to the pile of bags. “Since they’re _vampires_ and all?”

“Yeah,” Luna replied, grabbing Ramires’ bag after a second of rummaging and passing it up to him, then grabbing her own and Joseph’s. “But only if they’re looking. Recently turned vampires aren’t usually the smartest, and they’re in a feeding frenzy. If we don’t get too close, we shouldn’t attract their attention.”

Indiana grabbed his own bag and Abraham’s. He handed the latter to Seabrooke.

“Wait,” he said, “are we just leaving Joseph here?”

“We need to prioritise getting Ramires out,” Luna replied, and Abraham nodded in agreement, though his expression was pained. Luna sighed. “He can take care of himself.”

About a quarter of the way down the room, they were pulled to a temporary halt.

“Jones!”

Indiana looked up just in time to catch the mask that Joseph had chucked in his direction.

The young man had apparently been keeping himself between the rest of the group and the vampires that were still busy tearing into their own comrades.

The ones lain prone on the ground were beginning to stir, though much more sluggishly than the others had.

Indiana and Luna exchanged a look, and the group began to move faster.

They made it to the door.

Unfortunately, they weren’t the first to do so.

One of the vampires, upper half drenched in gore, was stood by the door, part of the chain held in inhuman clawed hands.

It hissed at them.

“ _Merda!_ ” Said Luna and shoved Abraham and, by default, Ramires, through the door.

Indiana followed suit with Seabrooke just as the chain gave way and the huge doors began to swing shut, gaining speed as they went.

There was no way he or Luna would make it.

But the mask might.

“Seabrooke!”

The man looked up.

“Look after this! And _be careful!_ ” And he threw the mask along the ground like he was skipping a stone.

It just made it to the other side, seconds before the almost deafening slam of stone on stone drowned out any reply.

There were two thuds in rapid succession as two bags fell to the floor and were then kicked to the side.

“Doctor Jones?” Luna said, sliding her jacket off. “I’m going to need you to stay back.”

She inhaled slowly, bringing her hands up, her eyes fixed firmly on the vampire. As she did, Indiana swore he saw a golden glow sparking around her hands.

“I can’t just-,” he started, dropping his own bag.

“You can.” She cut in, sharply. “And you _will_. I am capable of handling a single vampire, and those zombies won’t kill themselves.”

Zombies. Great.

“They’re much easier than vampires – destroy their heads and you should be fine.” She took another slow and steady breath. “Now, go and help JoJo, would you? He appears to be outnumbered.”

Indiana glanced back down the room.

The situation down there was _definitely_ worse than theirs.

There was one ‘zombie’ sprawled out on the ground, head nowhere to be seen.

There were two more, as well as the other two vampires, who had Joseph cornered up against the altar. As Indiana watched, he pushed himself up onto it and kicked the head clean off of one of the zombies.

Then there were about half a dozen more stumbling clumsily down the length of the room.

He dragged his attention back to his immediate surroundings.

The vampire had got a lot closer – and, as Indiana laid eyes on it, it lunged for him.

He jerked back instinctively, but it never got close enough to touch him; Luna intercepting it with a harsh slap to the face that sent it almost two feet sideways with a crackle of light and the sharp smell of ozone.

“Go!” She snapped. “I’m relying on you!”

* * *

  
Despite her bravado, Luna had never, as she’d said minutes before, even seen a vampire before, let alone had to fight one. Oh, she’d heard plenty of stories, mostly from JoJo, and she had the theoretical knowledge of how to fight one. She’d been trained by the best, after all.

But.

Even all the training in the world couldn’t quite prepare you for the real thing.

Luckily, it didn’t seem too intelligent, so it probably wouldn’t be fighting strategically, and it was newly made. Those two factors combined made it unlikely it had figured out all the nasty tricks it could now use – so she had to take it out before it had a chance to.

All she needed to do was keep out of range — and keep it away from Doctor Jones — until she got an opening, then pump it full of Hamon and leave it to burn from the inside out.

Best not to draw it out too long, though – six zombies was an awful lot for a man armed with a whip and a pistol.

If only they’d thought to bring a shotgun.

Or maybe a machete…

She was snapped out of _that_ train of thought as the vampire flung itself at her, claws outstretched.

She ducked and rolled under his arms, grabbing hold of one as she passed under it and twisted it until she heard a snap.

He let out a spine-chilling screech, whipped around, and lunged again.

This time he was closer, so she wasn’t quick enough in dodging and took a swipe to her left arm.

She cursed, scrambled sideways, then cursed again as white-hot pain bloomed from the wound. She clenched her hand in a fist, nails digging into her palms.

She didn’t bother checking it – that would just waste time.

She was _not_ going to waste time.

* * *

  
The horrifying screech from behind him almost distracted Indiana, but he resisted the temptation to look. Instead he yanked harder on his whip, bringing the zombie to its knees, at which point he smashed the butt of his now empty pistol into its face, then slammed its head into the floor, where it finally stopped moving – for good, this time.

The other five, who’d been lingering around the middle of the room as if indecisive, had begun to make their way down towards him and Luna, leaving Joseph with just the two other vampires left to deal with.

The young man’s hair was mussed, his jacket was missing, he was bleeding from a gash in his shoulder, and the look on his face contained far too much glee for a man fighting two creatures straight from humanity’s nightmares.

And then the first zombie reached him, and he stopped thinking about anything other than not dying, right up until there was an almost blinding flash of light and another awful screech from behind him.

He risked a look back, and saw Luna, blood flowing down her left arm, right trouser leg in ribbons, hair loose around her face, kneeling on the ground with a large knife shoved deep into her opponent’s abdomen.

There was another, weaker screech and the vampire’s body began to disintegrate, golden sparks dancing over its slowly vanishing body.

Luna yanked the knife out and stood, letting what was left of the body collapse to the floor. She hurried over to join him.

“C’mon,” she said, gesturing at the three remaining zombies, all closer to Joseph than to them. They must’ve doubled back at some point. “You want him to finish before us?” She asked, a playful challenge.

There was only one vampire left, too.

A flash of light.

No vampires.

The pair began to make their way down the room, Luna tucking away the knife in a very well concealed holster around her waist.

Joseph smashed his fist through the head of one zombie, the other two lumbering side-by-side back in Indiana and Luna’s direction.

“They really aren’t very smart, are they?” Indiana commented.

“Nope,” said Luna, as the zombies stumbled to a halt. They swayed for a second, and then their heads exploded.

The bodies slumped to the ground to reveal Joseph, stood there with his arms outstretched and an odd gleam in his eyes. His gloves were both gone, and his hands and arms were covered in blood, with more of the same splattered across his boots and trousers. The cut in his shoulder was no longer bleeding, but bruising was spreading across both. There was a fresh cut on his head.

“All done?” He asked, wiping his hands on his trousers.

“Yep,” Luna replied. “Dead vampire, some dead zombies. The other three are out and so is the mask, but the door mechanism is broken.”

“There should be another exit up on the balconies, given there are no stairs or ladders or anything,” Joseph said. “The adoring crowds had to fit in somehow.”

Luna laughed.

“Doctor Jones,” Joseph said, “good job with those zombies. Do you think that whip of yours can get us up there?” He asked, pointing.

“Thanks,” Indiana said, still slightly dazed. “And it might. But first… That ‘third party’. That was you from the start. And Luna too?”

Joseph shrugged.

“Kinda simplifying it a bit there, but yeah. There was another group following us though – emergency backup. Just in case.”

“Why’d you do all of this?” Indiana asked. “Why get involved?”

“Why?” Joseph laughed. “We’ve been dealing with this shit since before any of us three were born. The second we heard so much as rumour there was a Stone Mask out here, we knew we had to find it and destroy it before anyone could get their hands on it.”

Indiana sighed.

“And that’s why we didn’t hear anything from them after the initial call – you tipped them off.”

Joseph nodded.

“Hang on,” Indiana said, something occurring to him. “What were the odds that Ross would walk in right when Luna was working on that paper? Hell of a coincidence.”

Luna gave a nervous laugh.

“Funny you should mention that,” she said. “It, ah… Wasn’t. A coincidence, that is.”

* * *

_  
Four days before leaving NYC._

_Archaeology classroom in Barnett College._

Smokey had, honestly, been hooked the moment he’d seen the name on the paper. And that was what lead to them lingering after their lecture, her flicking through the paper and him staring absently out of the window.

And then a military vehicle pulled up outside.

He drew in a sharp breath, glancing over at Doctor Jones. The man was absorbed in his work, so Smokey jabbed Luna with his pen and jerked his head towards the window when she looked up to glare at him.

She cocked an eyebrow, curiously, and went over to look. She looked, paused, and began a tirade of violent swearing – in total silence of course. Then she took a steadying breath. Pointed at the window. Pointed at the paper. Pointed at the board.

Smokey grimaced, but gave her a thumbs-up anyway.

So, Luna picked up the paper, picked up a piece of chalk, and began to talk.

* * *

_  
The Present._

“Right,” said Indiana. “So, _you_ orchestrated this?”

Luna winced.

“Sort of? We just took advantage of a convenient situation – if Ross hadn’t come to see you, we still would’ve got someone involved but…” She trailed off with a sigh.

“Probably would’ve ended a lot worse, huh?” Indiana said, taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair.

“It would,” Joseph said.

Indiana sighed.

“Okay. How did this ‘other group’ always know where we were going?” He asked. “Even from the start?”

“That’s pretty simple,” Joseph said. “When I said ‘we’ earlier, I didn’t just mean me, Luna and a handful of other people. There’s a lot of us – two separate but closely linked ‘organisations’, in fact. And they do not fuck around when it comes to this stuff.”

* * *

_  
The day before leaving NYC._

_Joseph’s living room._

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” JoJo said, shifting to a more awkward position in his chair. “But, as you know, this is kind of an emergency.”

“So, you have confirmation, then?” Lisa-Lisa asked. “Another Stone Mask has indeed been found.”

“It would seem that way, although it doesn’t seem like either side has any idea what they’re dealing with,” JoJo replied. He chewed thoughtfully on his thumbnail for a moment. “Given our luck, though...”

Robert sighed.

That was a very good point.

JoJo nodded.

“Anyway, me’n Luna have got onto the team the US military is sending to retrieve it. Hopefully, we’ll get there first and destroy it before anyone else gets near.” He explained.

“It’s unlikely to go that smoothly,” Robert said. “And you know it – which is why we’re doing this in person, hm?”

“You want a backup team, just in case,” Lisa-Lisa said. “We won’t have trouble organising that.” She took a sip of her tea. “Keeping track of you, on the other hand…”

“I have both of your work and home phone numbers memorised, as well as the one for HQ,” JoJo said. “Might not be the most direct, but I figure that’s the safest option.”

“And you’ll be checking in every time your group changes location,” Robert said. JoJo nodded, and he continued; “How long should we give you before sending backup if you lose contact?”

“A week is probably the best option. Yeah,” JoJo nodded, a distant expression on his face, “a week should do fine.”

* * *

_  
The Present._

“So, you set up a system with these two people in this organisation?” Indiana asked, noting that no names had been used at any point in Joseph’s explanation.

“Yeah,” Joseph said. “I call one of them, they pass on the message to the team on the ground. Could’ve worked the other way around, too, but they weren’t really there for that.”

“You said they were backup?” Indiana asked.

“Mm,” Joseph said.

“They weren’t, were they?” Asked Luna, quietly. “Not really.”

“Not really,” Joseph confirmed. “They could’ve been, but if things had gone wrong out here, they would never have reached us in time.”

“Clean-up.” Indiana guessed, and judging from the facial expressions of both of the others, he was right.

“It was never going to come to that,” Joseph said. His voice was quiet and tight, and he wasn’t looking at either of them. “Not this time.”

Luna’s expression twisted painfully.

“Alright,” Indiana said, ignoring the awkwardness, “you said you checked in when we moved. And you tipped them off when we noticed they were following us.”

“Yes,” Joseph said, “yes, that happened. I’ll just, I dunno, go over all of them, I guess?”

He glanced at Luna, who shrugged and nodded.

“Okay…”

* * *

_  
Day five after leaving NYC._

_A public phone-booth in Recife - > Speedwagon’s office._

*CLICK*

“Heeyy, Uncle!”

_“JoJo, this is the second time you’ve called today.”_

“Yeah, yeah I know. Listen, your guys have been spotted – they warned us about a ‘mysterious third party’ following us a couple of hours ago.”

_“Damn. Thank you, JoJo, I’ll let them know to be more subtle.”_

“Thanks, you’re the _best_.”

* * *

_  
Day seven after leaving NYC._

_A public phone-booth in Natal - > Speedwagon’s house._

The phone ringing didn’t wake Robert, but he still wasn’t being all that pleased about being called in the middle of the night.

There was, however, only one person who’d be calling at this time, and whatever the reason it probably wasn’t good.

*CLICK*

“JoJo?”

 _“Uh-uh.”_ His voice, even under the distortion of the telephone line, sounded tired.

“Do you know what time it is here?”

 _“Not too different to here, I reckon,”_ JoJo replied. _“Listen. The name ‘Jakob Haber’ ring any bells?”_

“Let me think…” That name did sound familiar. Where… Ah, of course. “Yes, actually. One of our informants.”

 _“Not any more he isn’t,”_ JoJo said. _“He’s dead. We’re in Natal, about to leave for Manaus.”_

Ah, how convenient.

“I know a guy in Manaus,” Robert said. “Leandro Ramires, old friend. Used to work for us. He’s a local, though, knows way around real well and, more importantly, he’s trustworthy. Works a stall in the main market.”

_“Thanks.”_

“I’ll pass on the news about Haber to the relevant parties. And JoJo… Please be careful.”

_“You know me. Of course, I will.”_

* * *

_  
Day nine after leaving NYC._

_Somewhere in Manaus - > Speedwagon’s office._

*CLICK*

“We’re getting close,” JoJo said, without waiting for a greeting. “But I’m pretty sure we’ve been followed again. The next call will probably be the last one – I need you to make sure your team are ready to start following us, or the Nazis, really closely.”

_“You think you’ll be heading out into the rainforest?”_

“Probably.”

_“I’ll make sure they’re ready. Good luck.”_

* * *

_  
Day eleven after leaving NYC._

_Hotel in Manaus - > Speedwagon’s house._

This time, the call came at a much more reasonable hour.

*CLICK*

 _“I need to make this quick. Made contact with Ramires, don’t think he realised I was looking for him specifically.”_ A sharp sigh. _“We’re leaving before dawn tomorrow, another one of your informants reached out to us.”_

“Do you know who?”

 _“Yeah. Max Aust. Warned us they’re on to us and said he’d help us get out of the city.”_ JoJo paused, and when he spoke again his voice was quieter. _“He’ll be dead by this time tomorrow.”_

Robert glanced at the notepad by the phone.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do – the team is around twelve hours away.”

_“I figured. Anyway, we’ve got a couple of flares – make sure your guys know to keep an eye out for it. That goes off, they need to come straight to us. If it’s at night, it should be impossible to miss.”_

“Understood. I’ll make sure to get a medical team on standby in Manaus as well.”

 _“Perfect, thanks.”_ There was a clatter of footsteps from the other end of the line. _“Shit, I gotta go.”_

The call cut out.

* * *

_  
The Present._

“And, on, the subject of flares,” Luna interjected.

* * *

_  
Day fifteen after leaving NYC, about half-an-hour before The Present._

_By the altar in a temple somewhere in Brazil._

“Signore Ramires,” Luna whispered, lips right up against Ramires’ ear as she cut through the ropes binding him. “I have an emergency flare in my bag. I’m going to move it into yours as soon as I can, then, as soon as you get outside, you need to set it off – straight up. Help _will_ come.”

* * *

_  
The Present._

“…and I think that’s everything,” Luna said, glancing at Joseph.

Joseph nodded.

“Yeah, that’s it. I guess…” He sighed. “Sorry for keeping you in the dark this whole time. But I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

“If that hadn’t happened,” Indiana said, slowly, “if they hadn’t used it right in front of us, you wouldn’t have told me anything, would you?”

“No,” Joseph said. “And trust me, you’d have been better off not knowing. Now, we need to get out of here, the others might start to think we’ve died.”

“Point,” Indiana said, and picked up his whip. “Any suggestions? This won’t attach itself to the railing.”

“Hm…” Luna said. “I think I could get up the pillars there... Actually, I think Joseph has a rope in his bag I could take up?”

“Yeah,” said Joseph. “Also, they’re columns.”

“What’s the difference?” Indiana asked.

Luna smacked the heel of her palm into her forehead with a grimace, then hurried over to the pile of bags near the door.

“Oh, I don’t think there is one,” Joseph said, moving a few feet away and picking up a crumpled ball of fabric, which turned out to be his jacket. He pulled it on as he walked back over. “Just don’t like it.”

“Actually, one more question… What’s with all the weird comments you’ve been making since we left Manaus?”

Joseph laughed sheepishly.

“Oh, you heard those? Ah… Inside jokes? With Luna. It’s… I’ve been somewhere similar, they were about that trip.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Indiana said, taking his bag off Luna as she returned.

Luna eyed the columns for a moment, then gave a decisive nod and climbed up them like a squirrel would a tree.

“I know I said one more,” Indiana said, watching her go, “but what’s with the glowy thing?”

“Oh, that?” Joseph said as Luna reached the top and began attaching the rope to the railing. “Thaat… Is something that might be explained later. Don’t worry about it.”

Luna called down that the rope was secure, and Joseph gestured for Indiana to go first.

By the time both of them were up and the rope was untied, Luna had found them a way out.

“These doors are way easier to open from the inside,” she said. “As in, they’re actually designed for _people_ to open from both sides.”

They took one last look at the vast chamber, then headed out into the veritable maze of corridors that would take them back to the main stairs.

There, they ran into Seabrooke, Luna quite literally, who had the mask held in one hand.

“Oh, thank God,” he gasped, upon seeing them. “I was waiting for you. The other two went on ahead — Ramires said he had a flare. Your idea, right Joestar?”

Joseph nodded, gazing at the mask clenched tightly in Seabrooke’s hand.

“I think,” he said, almost gently, “you’d better give me that, Sergeant.”

Seabrooke stared at him for a minute, clearly taking in the gore smeared across him, the cut on his head, the livid bruising on his shoulders, the flash of metal from his left hand.

He looked down at the mask.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think that’s a good idea.” He paused, then held out the mask. “And I think, after all this shit, you guys can call me Rudy.”

Joseph took the mask.

“Thank you, Rudy,” he said.

There was a dim flash, the smell of ozone, and the mask fell apart to dust in Joseph’s hand as everyone watched.

It was kind of anticlimactic.

“Okay,” Indiana said, breaking the silence. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

  
Outside, on the huge central platform, there was a small group of people alongside a small helicopter. Several large lamps had been set up around the edge. Ramires was just about visible, lying on a stretcher with someone crouched over his leg – definitely alive, then. Abraham was stood not far from him, talking to a man with a medic’s patch on his sleeve.

Seabrooke — no, _Rudy_ — broke off from their group immediately and headed for his friend.

Most of the people were dressed similarly, in a type of uniform that Indiana vaguely recognised as the one the person who’d dropped Luna and Joseph off at HQ the morning of their departure had been wearing. There was one person, however, who stood out, standing a handful of feet from them and away from the crowd of people by the helicopter. It was a woman with long dark hair, slightly above average height, dressed practically and wearing a muffler.

She stood there with impassive bearing, and as they approached and she turned towards them, Indiana saw that her expression matched it.

“ _Maestra_ ,” Joseph said, genuine shock clear in his voice. His pace picked up. “I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

“We were concerned,” the woman said. “Especially after your last call.” Her lips thinned as she surveyed Joseph and Luna. “I’m glad neither of you are dead, JoJo, Luna – though you’re both in quite a state.”

“Lot of zombies,” Joseph said. “And hey! Luna got her first vampire! Are you proud?”

The woman sighed.

“Yes, JoJo,” she said, voice layered with exasperation. “I am. Well done, Luna.” She turned to look at Indiana. “And this must be Doctor Jones.”

“Ma’am,” Indiana said, tipping his hat to her. She did not give the impression of a being someone to trifle with.

She nodded and turned back to Joseph.

“Well, Joseph?” She asked, and Joseph immediately straightened up.

“A dozen Nazi soldiers followed us in – three turned into vampires, one by the mask and the other two by the first. The rest became zombies. Between the three of us, we disposed of all of them, and I destroyed the mask just now.”

“Excellent,” the woman said. “Now go and see the medics. We’ll have plenty of time for a full debrief on the way back.”

She stepped closer, and clapped a hand on Joseph and Luna’s shoulders, heedless of the mess.

She stayed there a moment, then nodded and pulled away, heading over to the helicopter.

Joseph let out a long sigh and visibly slumped. He looked exhausted.

“C’mon,” Luna said. “Sooner we get seen to, the sooner we can get the hell out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed this! Just the epilogue left to go, which is actually set _after_ the next instalment in the series, though contains very minimal spoilers for it.  
> If you want to pester me, have any unanswered questions, etc I'm on tumblr at h2-oh-fic, or you can find me in other places via one of the links in my bio there, or you can just leave a comment!  
> Hope you have a good day!


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snapshot of the future, a surprise reunion, a new player introduced.  
> Welcome to the end of the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it has been nearly two months. Welcome to the epilogue: it's very short because there was originally meant to be more to this fic, but it worked better as it is. The next fic in the series is in progress, though I doubt I will start uploading it for some time as I have a habit of changing my mind about earlier sections when I'm much further into the story.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

_Approximately fifty years later, April 1989._

_Naples, Italy._

Not much surprised Indiana these days, but _Joseph Joestar_ of all people, showing up at a talk in Naples was one of them. It was at the after-party, all the speakers and the guests dressed up all fancy and mingling.

“Joseph,” Indiana said, eyeing the younger man. “You look like you’ve barely aged a day.”

Joseph laughed.

“The beard helps though, right?” He said.

“I suppose,” Indiana allowed. “And who’s this, then?” He asked, turning to Joseph’s companion – a young lady of around twenty with dark skin and bright hair, dressed in a very finely cut suit and leaning on a cane. There was something vaguely familiar about her.

“This is Antonia,” Joseph said, and the girl offered her free hand to shake. Indiana took it. “She’s Luna’s great-niece, lives locally and was interested in tagging along when I said I was coming.”

“Oh?” Indiana said. “Yes, I think I can see the resemblance. You have an interest in archaeology too?”

Antonia laughed.

“Oh, honestly? I think I’ve had enough of it to last a lifetime,” she said, taking a half step back and resting both hands on the cane.

“There was an incident,” Joseph explained. “She doesn’t like to talk about it. Anyway! She actually wanted to hear your perspective of the Brazil incident. She’s already had mine and Luna’s.” He winked as he said the last sentence.

“Oh really?” Indiana asked. “Well, in that case, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

_END_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next fic, when it's eventually posted, will be a reworking of SDC to fit in this AU. Many things remain the same, many other things change, and we have an extra cast member in the form of the OC introduced in this chapter.  
> Edit: also, this fic is the only part of the series that will be a crossover.  
> Hope you've had a good time!

**Author's Note:**

> If you're enjoying this, please take the time to kudos and/or comment, it would mean the world to me!  
> I'm on tumblr at h2-oh-fic if you're curious about the fic, the au, the characters, etc.  
> Hope you're having a good day!


End file.
